Judiciary of Poland


Judiciary of Poland is a responsibility, as defined by the constitution of Poland, of a four-tier court system: the Supreme Court of Poland, the common courts, administrative courts and military courts. Therefore, tribunals are, in a strict definition, not part of Polish judiciary, but in a broad definition, they are included in it.
The common courts, divided into appellate courts, district courts and regional courts, have the competency in criminal, civil, economic, labor and family law.
Court judges in Poland are nominated by the Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa and are appointed for life by the president of Poland.
Prosecution in Poland is formed by the Public Prosecutor General, the National Public Prosecutor's Office, regional, district and appellate prosecutions, and the prosecutors of the Institute of National Remembrance.
Since the ongoing reform of the justice system from 2017 to 2020, Polish judiciary is not independent, it is politically controlledby the ruling party and Public Prosecutor General and Polish Ministry of Justice in combined in one person: Zbigniew Ziobro, member of Law and Justice party. Any ruling which is not in the interest of ruling party is changed or overturned and a judge or prosecutor who issued the ruling is subject to disciplinary procedures, and the offense is punishable by up to three years in prison.

Reforms of late 2010s

A series of late 2010s reforms to the Polish judiciary have proven controversial.
On Friday, 31 July 2020, Amsterdam judges from international division at Amsterdam court said that "Poland’s courts are no longer independent of the government and the rule of law has been severely compromised" and asked the European Court of Justice to rule if "suspects can still be extradited to Poland or if that should now cease".