HFHR report: Legislative Process and the Justice System

The document is a summary of the two-year programme “Monitoring of the Legislative Process in the Area of Justice System” financed by a grant from the Stefan Batory Foundation as part of the “Democracy in Action” programme. The report’s analysis focuses on the experiences gained in the last two years of the “Monitoring” programme concerning the changes in the justice system that were initiated, discussed or implemented over the period analysed.

“The most important development within the lawmaking process at the central level was the coming into force of the new working bylaws of the Council of Ministers in January 2014 which, at least partially, put order to the procedure of enacting new laws”, notes Barbara Grabowska, a lawyer with the HFHR. “Furthermore, the Senate’s initiative which resulted in the introduction of public hearings, and the launch of works on the Petitions Bill should be assessed positively”, Ms Grabowska adds.

Regrettably, no significant changes have been observed in the framework of the parliamentary legislative process. Therefore, in one of its recommendations the report addresses the need to reform the parliamentary lawmaking procedure, starting with the Bylaws of the Sejm. Above all, the parliamentary stage of the public consultations process must be standardised and extended in scope, especially in respect of draft legislation sponsored by deputies and the President of Poland.

Reforms of the justice system should be fully coordinated, which is true in respect of both changes proposed by the Ministry of Justice and those introduced by members of the Sejm or Senate.

Repeated attempts to change courts and the prosecution service may ultimately prove to be pointless due to the absence of planning and coordination.

“On the one hand, it’s hard not to notice the existing inflation of laws, especially regarding amendments to various codes. On the other, there is still no clear regulation of such areas of the justice system as the status of court experts or the legal aid framework”, says Barbara Grabowska.