Polish president signs laws that led to EU sanction threat

Source: Associated Press


Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska, Associated Press
Updated 4:21 pm, Wednesday, December 20, 2017

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's president signed two laws Wednesday that complete a sweeping government overhaul of the country's justice system, ignoring a warning from the European Union that the legislation breached fundamental democratic principles and could lead to unprecedented sanctions.

President Andrzej Duda's approval of the laws he had a hand in drafting was not unexpected, but his announcement came hours after the EU's executive body triggered proceedings over a series of legal changes that give the Polish government more control over the judiciary and courts.
 
Duda emphatically defended the legislation in a television interview on Wednesday night. He accused the EU of hypocrisy" and some of its leaders of "lying" with the suggestion that Poland is acting with disregard for basic European values.
 
. . .

The right-wing Law and Justice party that has ruled Poland for two years has enacted several laws that critics say erode the separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches and could interfere with defendants receiving fair trials.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Report-EU-takes-unprecedented-step-against-Poland-12443834.php