Polish Lower house passes National Judicial Council reform bill

WARSAW, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Poland's Sejm (lower house) will choose the 15 judges of the National Judicial Council (KRS) under a draft law passed Friday by the Sejm, Polish Press Agency reported.

The draft legislation was presented by Polish President Andrzej Duda in September after he vetoed a government bill on the institution in July, citing excessive powers given to the justice minister, among other concerns. The draft legislation will now pass to the Senate (upper house).

The bill was supported by 237 votes with 166 against and 22 abstentions. Earlier, almost all the amendments to the bill submitted by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party were approved, while opposition amendments were rejected. The opposition also filed a motion to reject the bill, which was voted down by the Sejm.

Under the new KRS bill, the 15 judges for the council will be chosen by the Sejm for a joint four-year term. Until now, the judges have been chosen by other members of the judiciary.

The most important part of the 10 accepted PiS amendments was the deletion of the rule whereby candidates for the KRS could be submitted by a group of 25 prosecutors, lawyers, legal advisors and solicitors - in addition to a group of 25 judges.

Those entitled to submit proposals for new KRS members will be, in addition to the group of 25 judges, a group of at least 2,000 citizens.

The bill also states that no sooner than 90 days and no later than 120 days after the judges' term of office has expired, the Sejm Speaker must announce the onset of proposing new judges in the "Polish Monitor" parliamentary newspaper.

Another draft law presented by President Duda in September, reforming the Supreme Court, was also passed by the Sejm on Friday.

Polish government has been preparing judicial reforms for several months. The reforms have caused many controversies among Polish citizens and among foreign institutions as well. The reforms include changes in the electoral system of the members of National Council of the Judiciary and Supreme Court judges' retirement. Enditem