The Polish judicial system is considered slow, especially the ordinary courts. [142] [143] In 2021, it took an average of seven months to process a case before a regional court and more than ten months before a district court, with the time it takes to process a case gradually increasing since 2015. [144] Longer proceedings tend to focus on courts that focus on large cities; In 2017, about 10% of cases took more than a year to resolve (with up to 18.72% in Warsaw) and more than 1% of cases took more than 3 years (including nearly 4% in Warsaw). [145] The nature of the case also plays a role: in 2021, criminal proceedings before regional courts were often concluded within four months, but the resolution of labor disputes took an average of nearly a year; District courts have fewer variations. [144] The Polish judicial system is plagued by several problems. The courts are widely considered to be too slow and confidence in the judicial system is low among the population. Changes to the judicial system made by the ruling United Right coalition from 2015 onwards, ostensibly aimed at addressing these obstacles, have sparked much controversy and provoked an ongoing constitutional crisis. [3] [4] [5] The conservative government is widely accused both in Poland and abroad of wanting to take control of the courts,[6] which led to a conflict between judges appointed before the Law and Justice coalition made changes to the judiciary and its supporters and those appointed by the new rules. In particular, the disciplinary system, widely seen as non-independent, has led to convictions and led the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to order the suspension of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court and to impose a fine of €1 million per day for Poland`s non-compliance with the order. The Constitutional Court, widely seen as co-opted by the Law and Justice party, issued rulings aimed at thwarting the implementation of negative rulings by the CJEU and the European Court of Human Rights, saying they were handed down outside the jurisdiction of the courts and without regard to the Polish constitution. The Constitution is considered the most important source of Polish law.
It contains information on the Polish legal system, institutional organisation, judicial system and local authorities. It also includes political rights and freedoms. The current binding constitution was adopted in 1997. The text of the Polish Constitution is available on the website of the Lower House of the Polish Parliament (Sejm) in Polish, English, German, French and Russian. Poland has a three-tier system of ordinary courts. Instead, they adopted a law of 20 December 2019 amending the Law – Law on the Structure of Ordinary Courts, the Law on the Supreme Court and Certain Other Laws (Official Gazette of 2020, item 190; The English translation of this document is available on the Venice Commission`s website). Among other solutions, it introduces the disciplinary responsibility of judges for activities or non-actions that could significantly prevent or hinder the functioning of the judicial system in the country (and in this way the denial of legality of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court or the new NJC can also be understood).
