Polish Tribunal bill does not dispel number of concerns: EU Commission
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
25.07.2016 16:26
A bill adopted by Polish MPs changing the way the country’s Constitutional Tribunal works does not dispel a number of concerns and gives rise to new ones, a European Commission spokesman said on Monday.
The headquarters of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw. Photo: wikimedia commons
“The College of Commissioners will revert to the matter shortly and consider in the light of all developments the appropriateness of further action under the rule of law,” said European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas.
Following a crisis over the Constitutional Tribunal, the European Commission in January launched the first step of a so-called rule of law procedure against Poland.
After the Polish lower house of parliament on Friday backed a string of amendments put forward by the upper house, the new bill on the Constitutional Tribunal will now be submitted to the president for signature.
The passed amendments include doing away with a requirement for the president to agree for a Constitutional Tribunal judge to be removed, if the Tribunal’s disciplinary court has ruled on such a move, and to not allow the president to motion for a given case to be considered by the Tribunal outside of the chronological order in which cases were submitted.
(pk)
Source: PAP