In Poland, the dispute over the control of the judicial system is breaking out again. “I refuse to appoint these judges”

Polish conservative President Karol Nawrocki announced on Wednesday that he vetoed the appointment of 46 new judges, a new episode of the confrontation for control over the judicial system between the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) and the coalition government led by liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk, while both political camps accuse each other of undermining the country's constitutional order, reports EFE and Reuters agencies, taken over by Agerpres.

President Nawrocki, elected last summer and an ally of the conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, justified his refusal by saying that the new judges promoted by the government “challenge Poland's constitutional and legal order.” “I refuse to name these 46 judges,” he said in a statement. “This is not only a verbal signal, but also a concrete decision not to accept further nominations,” added the president.

He emphasized that he will not approve promotions either, especially in the case of those magistrates who “listen to the bad advice of the Minister of Justice, Waldemar Lurek, who encourages judges to question the constitutional and legal order of the Republic.”

The now-opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party led the Polish government for eight years in a row and was in constant conflict with Brussels over conservative and sovereignist policies that earned it accusations from the European Commission of violating the “rule of law”, particularly for judicial reforms and refusing to recognize the primacy of EU law and the decisions of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) over Polish law and court decisions polish

After losing the majority in the October 2023 elections, the Law and Justice party has since been fighting a political battle with the new coalition of pro-European liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk whose main stakes are justice and the media. After taking power, Tusk's government has made it a priority to bring ministers and officials of the former executive to court for what the current prime minister claims are corrupt practices and contrary to the rule of law.

Tusk also promised to “depoliticize” the National Council of the Magistracy (KRS), an institution where a reform promoted by the PiS party made the appointment, dismissal and disciplinary action of judges dependent on the government.

For his part, President Nawrocki insisted he would oppose any “purging or any discriminatory treatment of judges” appointed following the 2015 judicial reform and would use his veto power to block laws challenging the status of these magistrates.

The result of this ongoing confrontation between power and opposition for control of the judiciary is a prolonged institutional stalemate, with judicial reforms approved by the government but blocked by the president, perpetuating a deep crisis of the rule of law in Poland.