Germans criticize the Polish justice system. “FAZ”: It remains a tool of the political game

The German daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” assessed on Friday that the dispute between President Karol Nawrocki and Donald Tusk's government over judicial nominations weakens the already strained principle of the rule of law in Poland. As added, the Polish justice system remains a tool of political games.

“There is no sign that this will change in the coming years,” says FAZ.

In the opinion of the Frankfurt daily, “the dispute between the government and President Karol Nawrocki over the promotion of 46 judges is a continuation of the struggle for power, which in the long run may increasingly paralyze the Polish judiciary.”

“FAZ” also assessed that the government cannot easily reject the president's arguments as unlawful, as it had previously done in relation to the decisions of his predecessor, Andrzej Duda. “Theoretically, critics of the justice system reform by the right-wing PiS government in 2015-23 should even praise the right-wing conservative president in this particular case (which, ironically, was already done by Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek),” we read in the daily.

“FAZ” recalled that the promotions were prepared by the National Council of the Judiciary, politicized by PiS, which is considered by the liberal part of the political class and European courts to be an unconstitutional body. “However, Nawrocki justified his refusal on political grounds. He made it clear that during the five years of his term, he would not appoint judges who openly criticized the political instrumentalization of the justice system by PiS. In this way, the already weakened rule of law is further weakened,” it concluded.

The president announced on Wednesday that he had refused to appoint 46 judges and that over the next five years he would not promote people who question the president's constitutional powers, the Polish constitution and the Polish legal system. He also accused some judges of being guided by the “evil whispers” of Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek. According to Nawrocki, these suggestions “encourage judges to question the constitutional and legal order of the Republic of Poland.”

On Wednesday evening, the Ministry of Justice announced that it had received a letter from the Chancellery of the President refusing to appoint judges, but without a justification. The president argues that his decisions do not require formal justification and that judges should deal with adjudicating, not “turning courtrooms into parliamentary chambers.”

From Berlin Iwona Weidmann (PAP)

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