Venice Commission arrives in Warsaw

On Sunday evening, the members of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission arrived in Warsaw. During their two day visit, they will probe whether developments concerning the Constitutional Tribunal go against the rule of law and are in breach of EU Standards. The delegates are to meet President Andrzej Duda, judges and officials from the foreign ministry and the justice ministry. However, no separate meeting has been schedule with the opposition. In December, Witold Waszczykowski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, asked the Council of Europe's Venice Commission to express its opinion about the amendment to the law on the Constiutional Tribunal, according to which, the tribunal's rulings are to be passed with a two-thirds majority with 13 out of 15 judges present and voting. In the previous version of the law, verdicts were passed with a simple majority with five judges present or nine in cases of particular importance.