Polish president, ruling party chief to discuss judicial reform

The talks, the third such engagement between the two politicians in recent weeks, were due to begin in Warsaw in the late afternoon.

In early September, President Andrzej Duda voiced his support for “a real reform” of the judiciary after two-and-a-half-hour talks with Jarosław Kaczyński at Warsaw’s Belweder Palace, according to a spokesman.

In a recent media interview, Kaczyński, who heads Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, said he would not agree to superficial changes in the country’s justice system.

Speaking to the Gazeta Polska weekly, Kaczyński admitted there were tensions between the government and President Duda after the latter in late July vetoed two of three controversial government-backed bills that would have given politicians sweeping powers in appointing and dismissing court judges.

Duda then submitted his own proposals for reorganising the country's Supreme Court and the National Council of the Judiciary, which reviews and assesses candidates for judges.

Kaczyński said the ruling majority would "do everything to maintain unity," but added that this must be done "within the limits of common sense." (gs)

Source: IAR, PAP