Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Poles protest outside parliament in Warsaw

Thousands of Poles have held rallies in the capital Warsaw and other cities to condemn a controversial reform of the judiciary.

Protesters say the bill, passed by the Senate on Saturday, will erode judges' independence and undermine democracy.

It gives MPs and the justice minister the power to appoint judges without consulting judicial circles.

The government says the move is needed because the judiciary is corrupt and serves only the interests of elites.

The bill must still be signed by President Andrzej Duda in order to become law. He has given no indication that he plans to veto it.

Since it came to power in 2015, the government of the conservative, populist Law and Justice party (PiS), has passed a series of controversial reforms, triggering mass protests.

How deep is opposition to the reform?

Opposition supporters and human rights activists gathered in Warsaw under Polish and EU flags, and other banners, blowing klaxons, in a demonstration which continued after dark.

Police say about 4,500 people turned out in the capital while another estimate puts the number closer to 10,000. Smaller rallies were held in Krakow, Katowice and elsewhere.

Chats of "shame, shame" and "we will defend democracy" could be heard, correspondents say.

Instead of Law and Justice, one placard in Warsaw read "Lawlessness and Injustice", the BBC's Adam Easton reports from Warsaw.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Grzegorz Schetyna addressed the crowd, with Ryszard Petru at his side

Opposition leaders like former Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna of Civic Platform and Ryszard Petru of the Modern party took to the stage in Warsaw.

"Today we know that a great fight has begun and we know we must be together, we know we must fight against them together," Mr Schetyna told the crowd, Reuters news agency reports.

Image copyright Karolina Stawinska Image caption Thousands tuned out under Polish and EU flags and other banners

The opposition fear the law will give parliament - dominated by PiS lawmakers - indirect control over judicial appointments, violating the constitutional separation of powers.

Włodzimierz Wróbel, a Supreme Court justice, told the BBC Poland would lose its independent judiciary.

Why is the government doing this?

The leader of the PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, says the reforms are needed because the judiciary is corrupt and only serves the elites. His party has previously passed legislation giving it control over the public media and civil service.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Opponents fear the reform will erode the independence of Poland's judiciary

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said the current system of appointing judges was undemocratic.

"We want to end corporatism and introduce the oxygen of democracy there," he said. "Because Poland is a democracy based on the rule of law. This is not court-ocracy."

Many Poles agree with the government, our correspondent reports.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Paul Adams examines the political scene in Poland

A separate bill was also presented in parliament this week, which would allow the justice minister to get rid of all of Poland's Supreme Court judges and appoint new ones.

This piece of legislation was not consulted on beforehand and introduced to parliament in the middle of the night, our correspondent says. It is still being discussed.

Under the PiS government, he adds, the justice minister already wields considerable power over the prosecution service in his role as prosecutor general because he can influence prosecutors to launch investigations.

How are Poland's EU partners reacting?

The European Commission, which is already investigating Poland for a serious breach of the rule of law, will urgently discuss the developments next week

The Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, said the reforms were a "major setback for judicial independence".

Manfred Weber, leader of the European Parliament's largest grouping the EPP, said: "Law and Justice is putting an end to the rule of law and leaving the European community of values." </s> There have been large protests in Poland after the government introduced laws to dismiss the judiciary. Then on Monday the President, Andrzej Duda, unexpectedly vetoed two of his government's own laws. 

The population was stunned.

This is against a backdrop of fears that a new, right wing eastern European bloc is forming, between Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, which doesn’t bode well for the European Union. </s> Thousands of Poles protested for the eighth day Sunday over new rules passed by the ruling party that would drastically limit the independence of the judiciary.

Protesters see moves by the populist governing Law and Justice party as an assault on the country's democratic foundations, accusing party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski of behaving in an authoritarian way to cement his power.

People waved flags of the European Union and Poland as they gathered in the evening in front of the presidential palace in the capital. They called on President Andrzej Duda to veto contentious legislation that would put the Supreme Court and other areas of the judiciary under the party's control.

Polish media reported that other protests were taking place in other cities across Poland and Europe.

The legislation quickly passed both houses of parliament in recent days and now awaits Duda's signature to take effect.

The moves to take control of the courts have also alarmed the European Union, with Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the EU's executive, warning last week that Brussels is very close to stripping Poland of its voting rights in the bloc over rule of law violations.

Germany's Justice Minister Heiko Maas on Sunday welcomed the possible EU sanctions against Poland, telling the weekly German paper Bild am Sonntag that "the independence of the judiciary is in danger in Poland."

"Somebody who gives so little respect to the rule of law has to accept that he isolates himself politically," Maas said.

He added that "the EU cannot stand and watch inactively. Rule of law and democracy are the bedrock of the EU." </s> related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

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Poland's Constitutional Tribunal President Julia Przylebska said that she sees no threat to the division of powers in an overhaul of the judicial system that has brought tens of thousands of people into the streets in protest.

WARSAW: Poland's Constitutional Tribunal President Julia Przylebska said that she sees no threat to the division of powers in an overhaul of the judicial system that has brought tens of thousands of people into the streets in protest.

Senators of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a bill that would remove all Supreme Court judges except those hand-picked by the justice minister. Critics say the laws will undermine judicial independence.

Now President Andrzej Duda is to decide whether to sign the bill, veto it - as the opposition and protesters demand - or send it to the Constitutional Tribunal, which PiS overhauled last year, drawing domestic opposition and criticism from the European Union.

"I see no threat to the division of powers in Poland," Przylebska, who was appointed by Duda last year, told state TV last night, according to state news agency PAP.

Przylebska said three bills overhauling the judiciary system recently approved by parliament will improve Polish courts.

Duda is to deliver a statement at 0800 GMT. Then he will meet the president of the top court, as well the head of the National Council of the Judiciary.

The overhaul of the judiciary, coupled with a drive by PiS to expand its powers in other areas, has provoked a crisis in relations with the European Union and sparked one of the biggest street protests since Poland overthrew communism in 1989. </s> The escalating standoff with Poland threatens to deepen an east-west split in the EU

The European Union announced Saturday it had launched legal action against Poland’s rightwing government over a new law that it fears will erode judicial independence.

The action escalates EU pressure on Warsaw over what Brussels sees as a growing threat, not just to democratic standards in Poland but across the 28-nation bloc.

“The European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Poland by sending a letter of formal notice,” the EU’s powerful executive said.

It was sent after Poland published the law reorganising its ordinary courts on Friday.

The EU statement said Warsaw had one month to reply to the Commission letter, which “raises concerns that… the independence of Polish courts will be undermined.”

The action eventually could lead to Poland being hauled before the bloc’s highest court, the European Court of Justice, and possibly fined.

The Commission has also warned of even tougher measures if the governing Law and Justice Party (PiS), which has raised EU concerns since winning the Polish elections in late 2015, forges ahead with deeper court reforms.

In Warsaw, Polish President Andrzej Duda’s chief of staff Krzysztof Szczerski warned on Saturday that the Commission had “entered a path that leads nowhere,” saying organisation of the courts was the sovereign preserve of member states.

“At a certain point, a reversal will be obligatory” for the Commission, which will face “increasingly high” costs each step it takes, Szczerski told PAP news agency.

Poland’s deputy foreign minister for European affairs, Konrad Szymanski, said the new law carried proper guarantees and the EU action was “unfounded.”

The EU move had been expected after Duda on Tuesday signed into law a measure allowing the justice minister to unilaterally replace the chief justices of common courts, which rank below the Supreme Court.

However, Duda, a former PiS party member who turned independent, stunned the government when he vetoed another bill that would have reinforced political control over the paramount court.

He also vetoed a bill allowing parliament to choose members of a body designed to protect the independence of the courts.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has vowed to push ahead with all the reforms despite Duda’s vetoes.

European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans on Wednesday warned the “commission is ready to immediately trigger the article 7 procedure” if Supreme Court justices are sacked.

Article 7 is a never-before-used EU process designed to uphold the rule of law, a so-called “nuclear option” that can freeze a country’s right to vote in meetings of EU ministers.

The chances are slim that its voting rights could actually be suspended. Populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has vowed he would instantly veto any such move by the EU.

The escalating standoff with Poland threatens to deepen an east-west split in the EU.

Hungary itself faces EU legal action over laws targeting education and foreign civil society groups, while Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic also face action for ignoring the bloc’s migrant relocation quotas.

The Commission said the threat to judicial independence came from the Polish justice minister getting “discretionary power to prolong the mandate of judges who have reached retirement age as well as to dismiss and appoint court presidents.”

Other concerns, it said, include “discrimination on the basis of gender” by setting the retirement age at 60 for female judges and at 65 for their male counterparts.

Timmermans also sent a letter on Friday to Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro saying the “Commission’s hand is still extended” as he invited them to Brussels to relaunch a long drawn-out dialogue on the judiciary reforms.

The legal reforms have triggered mass street protests in Poland and raised fears for the rule of law in one of the EU’s leading eastern former communist states.

Brussels and Warsaw have been at loggerheads ever since PiS announced reforms to Poland’s constitutional court after coming to power in late 2015.

EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova has expressed fears the “whole EU system of mutual recognition of court decisions” could be undermined if Polish judicial independence were undermined. </s> BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission on Monday reserved judgment on the Polish president's veto of two laws that Brussels fears would undermine judicial independence, instead saying it would discuss the matter at its next meeting.

 President Andrzej Duda surprised his allies in the socially conservative, euroskeptic Law and Justice (PiS) party by saying he would block two of three new bills giving the government powers to replace Supreme Court judges.

 Brussels last week said it would open more legal cases against Poland this Wednesday if the three new laws are enacted.

 Margaritis Schinas, spokesman for the European Union's executive arm, suggested in a briefing on Monday that Brussels needed time to analyse the new situation.

 "The Commission is following the events and the situation in Poland very closely," he said. All developments and all the changes that are going on will be addressed by the Commission on Wednesday."

 PiS says the reforms are needed to make the courts serve all Poles, not just the "elites".

 But Commission Deputy President Frans Timmermans said last week that the bills would "abolish any remaining judicial independence and put the judiciary under full political control of the government".

 The Commission last year launched an unprecedented review of the rule of law in Poland over concerns that more direct government control over the judiciary and the media were undermining democratic checks and balances.

 A senior EU diplomat said it was not clear at this stage whether the amendments that Duda was asking for would be more than cosmetic.

 The diplomat said Brussels had been sounding out member states on a possible vote declaring that they see the rule of law as threatened in Poland - a vote that would require the assent of four-fifths of member states.

 Even if such a resolution were passed, it is highly unlikely that the EU would actually punish Poland with sanctions, as this would require the unanimous approval of the other 27 member states - something that PiS's euroskeptic ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has made clear he would block.

 

 (Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Kevin Liffey) </s> Warsaw, Poland (CNN) Polish President Andrzej Duda has surprised observers by vetoing two bills that would have given his populist government sweeping powers over the country's courts.

The controversial bills are part of a package of judicial reforms put forward by the ruling right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) and passed by both houses of Polish parliament last week.

The proposed reforms have prompted huge protests in the capital Warsaw and across the country.

"This law would not strengthen the sense of justice" in society, Duda said in a televised declaration Monday, the AFP news agency reported.

Crowds began to gather outside the presidential palace on Monday morning, waving Polish flags and chanting: "we did it" and "thank you!" The President's veto is a victory for Poles who turned out to protest in over a hundred cities over the weekend.

Critics had condemned the legislation as a blatant power grab by the PiS, which repeatedly insisted that it was simply carrying out needed judicial reform.

Key to the legislation was that current Supreme Court judges would be forced into early retirement and new judges appointed by the Justice Ministry.

The legislation was described by protesters as the beginning of the end of democracy in the Eastern European country, one of the first former communist nations to join the European Union.

In his speech, Duda appealed to the opposition to "change tack," urging protesters not to turn to violence.

"People can demonstrate in the streets, can show their dissatisfaction, but not resort to violence," Duda said. "I admit, that my decision can be controversial. But, I'm stating here that this law, which has been passed through parliament, will not come into effect," he added.

A poll conducted by CNN affiliate TVN last week found that 55% of Poles said Duda should veto the court laws; 29% said he should not.

Parliament has the power to override the President's veto, but it would require a three-fifths majority, which would be impossible for the PiS to achieve without the support of other parties.

The ruling party will now have to go back to the drawing board and re-envision its package of reforms.

Just before news broke that Duda would veto the legislation, Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Warchol voiced his concern that rejection of the bills could halt changes to a judicial system which he says is corrupt and inefficient.

"If the President vetoes the law we will have to discuss the new shape of the disciplinary procedures against the judges," Warchol said.

"We can talk about the new law, but one thing is certain -- the ethical standards will have to be restored, and the Supreme Court must stand guard over those standards, instead of moving a corrupt judge to a different court."

Later on Monday, the President's spokesman confirmed that Duda would in fact sign a third bill, which will give the Justice Minister the power to select the heads of Poland's lower courts.

The President's unexpected decision on Monday comes after both the European Union and US State Department voiced concerns over the legislation. The EU said that it would erode the judiciary's independence.

Frans Timmermans, first vice president of the European Commission, last week threatened the use of Article 7, a mechanism that would allow for sanctions against Poland and possible suspension of its voting rights in the bloc. The measure has never been used before.

European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish Prime Minister from the opposition Civic Platform Party, warned last Thursday of "dangerous consequences" for Poland's standing on the world stage and said he had asked Duda for an urgent meeting.

"Bringing the courts under the control of the governing party in the manner proposed by the Law and Justice Party ... will ruin the already tarnished public opinion about Polish democracy," he said.

The public outcry over the plans had been partly overshadowed by recent high-profile visits to Poland by US President Donald Trump and the British royals.

But the US State Department tweeted a warning Friday to Poland "to ensure that any judicial reform does not violate (the) constitution & respects judicial independence."

When asked whether the Trump administration would urge Duda to veto the measure, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: "I am not aware if we will ask him to do that." </s> Poland's opposition parties and rights activists are due to stage a protest in the capital Warsaw against the government's reform of the judiciary.

They say the bill, passed by the Senate on Saturday, will erode judges' independence and undermine democracy.

The bill gives MPs and the justice minister the power to appoint judges without consulting judicial circles.

The government says the move is needed because the judiciary is corrupt and serve only the interests of the elites.

The bill must still be signed by President Andrzej Duda in order to become law. He has given no indication that he plans to veto it.

Since it came to power in 2015, the government of the conservative, populist Law and Justice party (PiS), has passed a series of controversial reforms, triggering mass protests.

Polish senators backed the judicial reform bill in a vote on Saturday morning after a heated debate.

Earlier this week, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro had argued that the changes were necessary because the current system of appointing judges was undemocratic.

"We want to end corporatism and introduce the oxygen of democracy there. Because Poland is a democracy based on the rule of law.

"This is not court-ocracy," the minister said.

Many Poles agree with the government, the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw reports, but many others say this is not about reform but about political control.

Opposition parties are concerned that the law would give parliament - dominated by PiS lawmakers - an indirect control over judicial appointments, violating the constitutional separation of powers.

A separate bill was also presented in parliament this week, which would allow the justice minister to get rid of all of Poland's Supreme Court judges and appoint new ones.

This piece of legislation was not consulted on beforehand and introduced to parliament in the middle of the night, our correspondent says. It is still being discussed.

Under the PiS government, he adds, the justice minister already wields considerable power over the prosecution service in his role as prosecutor general because he can influence prosecutors to launch investigations.

Grzegorz Schetyna, who leads the opposition Civic Platform party, denounced the tabling of the bill as an "announcement of a coup", the AFP news agency reports.

Earlier this week, the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, said the reforms were "a major setback for judicial independence".

Meanwhile, Manfred Weber, leader of the European Parliament's largest grouping the EPP, said: "Law and Justice is putting an end to the rule of law and leaving the European community of values." </s> By Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland ’ Poles protested in cities and towns across Poland for the eighth day Sunday over new rules passed by the ruling party that would drastically limit the independence of the judiciary.

Protesters see moves by the populist governing Law and Justice party as an assault on the country’s democratic system of checks and balances, accusing party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski of behaving in an authoritarian way to cement his power.

People waved flags of the European Union and Poland as they gathered in the evening in front of the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in Warsaw. They called on President Andrzej Duda to veto three contentious bills that would put the Supreme Court and other areas of the judiciary under the party’s control.

People chanted slogans, including “Constitution!” and “Freedom, Equality, Democracy!” Protests also took place in Krakow, Wroclaw and other Polish cities, with smaller protests in Paris, Brussels, London and elsewhere in Europe.

The legislation quickly passed both houses of parliament in recent days and now awaits Duda’s signature to take effect.

One element of the law on the Supreme Court would call for the immediate dismissal of all the Supreme Court’s judges, with their replacements to be chosen by the justice minister, who is also the prosecutor general.

The ruling party says its moves are meant to reform corrupt courts never properly purged of former communists after communism fell in 1989. The party, which won elections in 2015 with about 38 percent of the vote and has maintained that level of support in polls, says it has a mandate to clean up the country.

But the moves to take control of the courts have alarmed the European Union, with Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the EU’s executive, warning last week that Brussels is very close to taking steps to strip Poland of its voting rights in the bloc over rule of law violations.

Germany’s Justice Minister Heiko Maas on Sunday welcomed possible EU sanctions, telling the weekly German paper Bild am Sonntag that “the independence of the judiciary is in danger in Poland.”

“Somebody who gives so little respect to the rule of law has to accept that he isolates himself politically,” Maas said.

He added that “the EU cannot stand and watch inactively. Rule of law and democracy are the bedrock of the EU.”

However, it’s not clear if sanctions could pass because Hungary’s illiberal Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pledged to defend Poland against the EU’s “inquisition.”
Poles march against a bill that critics say might decrease judicial independence in Poland. Hungary has supported the bill while the European Union has opposed it. The protesters hope that the President Andrzej Duda would intervene against the proposed law.