Sejm marshal kills Polish president's judiciary bill after Venice Commission finds it threatens rule of law
Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty refused to advance a presidential judiciary draft on 17 June 2026, citing a Venice Commission opinion that called the bill a threat to judicial independence and unable to resolve Poland's rule-of-law impasse.
Legislative deadlock
In February 2026, President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a Sejm amendment to the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) and tabled his own 26-article bill titled “on restoring the right to a court and hearing a case without unjustified delay.” Marshal of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty, citing initial opinions from parliamentary lawyers that the draft “violates judicial independence and the separation of powers,” referred it for an urgent opinion to the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s constitutional law advisory body.
Venice Commission’s scathing opinion
The Venice Commission, together with the Council of Europe’s Directorate General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, adopted its opinion at a plenary session in Venice on 13 June 2026 and published it on 16 June. The document warns that the impasse between “highly polarised political forces” has left citizens’ access to justice “not guaranteed.” It calls the situation a serious threat to the rule of law requiring an urgent solution, but states unambiguously that “the current draft law cannot be regarded as a solution.”
This situation constitutes such a serious threat to the rule of law in the country that a way out of the impasse must be found. However, the current draft law cannot be regarded as a solution.
The Commission objected to provisions that would strip judges of the ability to examine key constitutional questions, including the legality of appointments involving the contested KRS, and warned that penalising judges with criminal sanctions for their rulings would undermine judicial independence.
Contentious provisions
The presidential bill would have barred judges from questioning the existence or powers of constitutional organs, especially the Constitutional Tribunal and the KRS. It introduced a ban on assessing the status of judges appointed with the current KRS’s involvement – a body whose composition has been repeatedly challenged by domestic and international institutions. One provision stipulated up to 10 years’ imprisonment for a judge who refuses to sit in a panel. The Venice Commission argued that assigning criminal liability to a judge required to evaluate the acts of those very organs “constitutes a clear threat” to judicial independence.
- Venice Commission adopts opinion calling presidential bill a threat to rule of law.
- Sejm Marshal Czarzasty blocks the bill, citing the Commission's recommendation.
Bill killed in Sejm
On 17 June, hours before a Sejm sitting, Marshal Czarzasty announced he would not give the presidential draft a legislative path. “There were very many expert comments and reservations about the unconstitutionality and illegality of its assumptions, which would break up the judicial system and the justice system,” he told reporters. He noted that the Venice Commission had “recommended that Poland desist from further work on the presidential bill.”
The Venice Commission comprehensively assessed the bill, saw the crisis in the Polish order, expressed concern at the impasse between extremely polarised political forces, but stated that the presidential law would only deepen the crisis.
Deputy Justice Minister Dariusz Mazur, who represented the ministry at the Venice session, wrote on social media: “The Commission shared our reservations – the draft is fundamentally incompatible with human rights standards.” The marshal declared the matter closed.
