Polish lower house passes Supreme Court bill

WARSAW, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Polish Sejm (lower house) on Friday passed a new bill regulating the work of the country's Supreme Court.

Under the new regulations, authored by Polish President Andrzej Duda, the Supreme Court will be empowered to review rulings by all other courts in Poland.

President Duda filed the regulation in September in place of a government reform of the court which he vetoed in July.

According to the new regulations, the Supreme Court will be able to review and change any court ruling issued in Poland after 1997. All court verdicts in Poland except administrative court rulings will also be appealable to the Supreme Court under a special procedure, with such cases to be co-decided by lay judges.

The bill also institutes a Disciplinary Chamber in the court manned by lay judges and sets 65 as the mandatory retirement age for its regular judges, who will need the president's consent to continue.

The bill went through in a 239 to 171 vote with 24 abstentions.

It now progresses to the Senate (upper house).

President Duda vetoed the Polish ruling party's reform of the Supreme Court and National Judicial Council in July, citing excessive powers given to the justice minister, among other concerns. In September, Duda unveiled his own bills to reform the two judicial institutions. Enditem