{"id":338800,"date":"2017-07-24T11:46:41","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T11:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=338800"},"modified":"2017-07-24T11:46:41","modified_gmt":"2017-07-24T11:46:41","slug":"polands-president-duda-vetoes-judicial-reforms-after-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/07\/polands-president-duda-vetoes-judicial-reforms-after-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland’s President Duda vetoes judicial reforms after protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polish President Andrzej Duda has announced he is vetoing a controversial law to replace Supreme Court judges with government nominees.<\/p>\n

Three key judicial reforms have been passed by Poland’s parliament, prompting days of demonstrations across the country.<\/p>\n

Before they become law, they require approval by the president.<\/p>\n

The changes have also set Poland’s right-wing government on a collision course with the European Union.<\/p>\n

The European Commission had threatened to impose sanctions this week if the reforms were not scrapped. European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, had warned of a “black scenario that could ultimately lead to the marginalisation of Poland in Europe”.<\/p>\n

Why did president step in?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“As president I don’t feel this law would strengthen a sense of justice,” Mr Duda said in a statement broadcast on national television. “These laws must be amended.”<\/p>\n

He said he was vetoing two of the new laws but approving a third, which gives the justice minister the right to name the heads of Poland’s lower courts.<\/p>\n

The Law and Justice (PiS) government has strongly rejected claims that the reforms are a move towards authoritarian rule and has expressed disappointment at Mr Duda’s decision to wield a veto.<\/p>\n

Mr Duda had already intervened last week in an attempt to find a compromise and the laws went through parliament at the weekend.<\/p>\n

But his latest step is seen as a surprise and marks a potential constitutional showdown with the government.<\/p>\n

Mr Duda is himself a former member of the populist ruling party and he had already rejected a meeting on the crisis with Donald Tusk.<\/p>\n

He said he had discussed the reforms at the weekend with legal experts as well as judges, but opposition MPs praised the role of protesters in influencing the decision.<\/p>\n

Demonstrations have taken place in dozens of Polish cities, from Poznan and Lublin to Krakow, Gdansk and Warsaw, and there have been calls for the protests to continue..<\/p>\n

Mr Duda warned that no change should lead to a separation of the state from society.<\/p>\n

What’s wrong with the reforms?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Poland’s judicial system is widely seen as slow and reforms are seen as necessary. “I’m absolutely a supporter of this reform, but a wise reform,” said President Duda.<\/p>\n

The three reforms give the justice minister and MPs broad powers and have prompted alarm from the US as well as the EU.<\/p>\n