Justice Minister's letter to top Polish judges sparks rumpus

Ziobro, who was also made Attorney General this year, wrote the letter only a week after the conservative Law and Justice party initiated cross-party talks on the reforms, ostensibly for the purpose of finding a compromise.

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, chairman of opposition party the Polish People's Party, said that Ziobro's letter represented “two steps backwards” in terms of resolving the deadlock between the government and the court.

Following talks in Warsaw earlier this week, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjoern Jagland and Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans both urged the Polish prime minister to publish a ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal, thus making it binding.

“Following the departure of representatives of the European Union, a willingness for dialogue would have been appropriate from Law and Justice, yet this is a hardening of its position,” Kosiniak-Kamysz argued.

Krzysztof Brejza, MP for the opposition Civic Platform party, said that Ziobro's letter represented “a very dangerous signal” to all Polish courts.

He argued that Ziobro's letter, which in his view “threatened sanctions” against the Constitutional Tribunal's judges, also marked “a threat“ against all judges in Poland.

He claimed that “at any moment” Ziobro could start sending “instructions to regional courts and district courts.”

Meanwhile, Ziobro has professed surprise at the heated debate that the letter caused.

“I'm baffled that my letter and my already known arguments have become the basis for such a rumpus,” he said.

In the wake of the Constitutional Tribunal's 9 March rejection of reforms passed in parliament in December, Law and Justice described the court's own ruling as “unconstitutional”, arguing that one judge too few was present to make the ruling valid. (nh/pk)

Source: IAR/PAP