An overwhelming majority of Poles spoke in favor of judges being accountable to a disciplinary body in the latest sign that President Andrzej Duda’s judicial reform efforts appear to have broad support from the Polish public.
Respondents to the public opinion survey also voiced their approval of the concept of citizens having a larger influence in shaping the Polish judiciary.
According to a public opinion survey carried out by Kantar for the Institute of Justice, 75.1 percent of Poles responded “yes” to whether judges should be able to be disciplined before an authority independent of the judges themselves.
Only 24.9 percent of Poles opposed the notion.
The survey also showed that 81.4 percent of respondents answered positively to whether there should there be a special authority in the Polish legal system that can investigate and determine disciplinary measures for judges, with only 18.6 percent against such measures.
The third question asked in the survey was: “Are you for or against the ability of Poles to influence the shape of the judiciary, similar to the citizens of other EU states?”
For that question, 82.2 percent of Poles responded “yes”, whereas only 17.8 percent opposed the idea.
Duda signed judicial reform legislation into law on Tuesday evening, with the amendment holding judges responsible for actions or negligence that could prevent or impede the functioning of the judiciary, actions which question the efficiency of judicial appointments, and bars judges from engaging political activity.
