Thousands protest judicial changes amid political storm

[Disir]

Protesters held peaceful candle-lit vigils demanding that President Andrzej Duda veto the Supreme Court reform bill.

They were largely also concerned over earlier-passed bills to change the ways judges are selected to a powerful judges' ethics council and to district and appeals courts.

For the first time since protests started more than a week ago, demonstrators gathered outside the Warsaw villa of Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which backed the judicial reform bills.
Thousands protest judicial changes amid political storm

People in the street for a cause in Poland although it is a candlelight vigil.

 

[Disir]

The bill, introduced last Sunday without previous consultation, is controversial because it would trigger the dismissal of all sitting judges on the Supreme Court and allow the government (currently controlled by the far-right Law and Justice/PiS party) to replace them. Under the present system, judges are chosen by a body of legal experts, the Council for the Judiciary. Critics say this would end judicial independence in Poland erode the separation of powers.

Defenders of the bill argue that the current selection process is an undemocratic legacy of the communist regime and that the court is corrupt and inefficient as a result.
Mass protests continue across Poland as controversial court reform nears passage | Krakow Post