Venice Commission slams Constitutional Tribunal reform

A draft opinion of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission on the reform of the Constitutional Tribunal has leaked to the media. The document published on Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza's website states that changes to  Poland's constitutional court endanger the rule of law, democracy and human rights. “As long as the situation of constitutional crisis related to [Poland’s] Constitutional Tribunal remains unsettled, and as long as the Constitutional Tribunal cannot carry out its work in an efficient manner, not only is the rule of law in danger, but so is democracy and human rights," the report read. Changes to the court removed “a crucial mechanism, which ensures that potential conflicts with European and international norms and standards can be resolved on a national level”, it said. The Commission called for the reversal of the law, however its opinions are not legally biding. Prime Minister Beata Szydło said that Poland will closely analyse the draft report. 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.