Three judges on the tribunal decide the fate of a law adopted by the parliamentary majority.\u201d<\/p>\n
The changes make it harder for the tribunal to make decisions, by raising the bar from a simple majority to two-thirds, and by raising the quorum from nine to 13 out of 15 judges.<\/p>\n
It also increases the lag – to up to six months – before they vet new legislation.<\/p>\n
The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which won elections in October, says reforms are needed because the judges are \u201ccronies\u201d of the opposition who will block its legislative programme.<\/p>\n
But independent jurists and watchdogs, such as the Council of Europe and the European Commission, say the changes weaken a vital check on politicians\u2019 power.<\/p>\n
He said the changes risk seeing \u201cthe integrity, stability, and proper functioning of the national constitutional court undermined.\u201d<\/p>\n
His spokeswoman said in Brussels on Monday the commission will discuss Poland on 13 January.<\/p>\n
The Polish opposition has reacted furiously to developments.<\/p>\n
Grzegorz Schetyna, Poland\u2019s former foreign minister, from the centre-right Civic Platform (PO) party, told the RadioZet broadcaster on Tuesday he has \u201cworrying signals\u201d from the US that it may call off a Nato summit, due in Warsaw in July, to punish PiS.<\/p>\n
Slawomir Neumann, the PO chairman, said Duda\u2019s decision shows that he \u201cisn\u2019t an independent politician.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mateusz Kijowski, from the Committee for the Defence of Democracy, a group which organised anti-PiS protests in recent weeks, said this was the end of democracy in Poland.<\/p>\n
Duda\u2019s signature, the bill\u2019s final act of adoption, comes after a previous PiS decision to remove five constitutional judges and replace them with loyalists, which was also criticised by Timmermans.<\/p>\n
PiS is planning, in the new year, to restrict foreign ownership of media and to extend political control over the prosecutor\u2019s service.<\/p>\n
Questions about\u00a0Duda’s \u00a0independence – highlights concern the PiS party chairman, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, controls both Duda and the Polish PM, Beata Szydlo, despite not being elected to office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Andrew Rettmann writes: \u00a0\u00a0Polish president Andrzej Duda has defied the European Commission by signing a controversial law on constitutional reform. Three judges on the tribunal decide the fate of a law adopted by the parliamentary majority.\u201d The changes make it … Continue reading ![\"Poland's](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Polands-Duda.jpg\")
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