New Polish Law on Constitutional Court Fails to Address Issues Raised by EU

The draft law on the Polish Constitutional Court recently approved by the Polish Parliament does not address a number of important issues that had been raised by the European Commission and the Venice Commission, Spokesman for the European Commission Margaritis Schinas said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In March, the Council of Europe’s advisory panel, known as the Venice Commission, said that the reform of the Constitutional Tribunal as well as other legislation by Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party are a threat to democracy and rule of law in Poland.

"We know that the law on the functioning of the Constitutional Tribunal, as voted by the Sejm on Friday last week, does not address a number of important concerns expressed by the Venice Commission and the European Commission, and raises some new ones," Schinas told journalists at the European Commission's midday briefing.

Reforms to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal proposed by the ruling conservative party have been met with international opprobrium and have sparked internal protests.

The draft law approved on Friday stipulates that the decision on the very important issues can be made in presence of 11 out of 15 judges, and the review of compliance of a law with the constitution can be made by five judges.

The bill also provides for the principle of the so-called "blocking minority" — if four judges vote against a motion during a meeting in the full composition, they may affect its imposition.