OREANDA-NEWS. According to a statement issued by the Supreme Court of Poland, judicial reform can trigger the country’s secession from the European Union.

In Poland, a dispute over judicial reform has been ongoing for several years. Many observers in the country and abroad believe that the ruling Law and Justice party is trying to subjugate the judiciary system and limit its independence. Last week, parliamentarians from Law and Justice introduced amendments to the law on courts and the Supreme Court to “discipline judges who exceed their powers”. This caused strong dissatisfaction of the opposition and a significant part of the judicial community.

“The contradiction between EU law and Polish law, which the authors of the bill initiate, is most likely to lead to the fact that the EU structures will begin the procedure for identifying violations of obligations arising from treaties within the EU, and ultimately to the need to leave the European Union,” the Supreme Court’s message says. The judges are sure that all the proposed changes “deserve a negative assessment” and “pose a real threat to the independence of the Polish judicial system.” The statement also notes that the changes would remove from the profession those judges “whose views do not correspond with the views of the ruling majority.”

The deans of the law faculties of Polish universities also expressed their fears regarding changes in the legislation on courts. “As lawyers and deans of faculties that train future lawyers, we express our deep concern about the unconstitutional decisions proposed in the draft law of December 12, 2019,” the statement signed by 15 deans says.