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The support expressed by Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis for the judicial reform that the Polish authorities are carrying out is determined by the elections, the Lithuanian judges are distancing themselves from it, the Council of Judges announced on Monday.
“We consider that the statements of the head of the Lithuanian Government on Lithuania’s support for the judicial reform being carried out by the Polish authorities will be determined by the tense electoral period and we distance ourselves from any statement that supports this reform,” the report says.
It points out that “the pragmatic pursuit of close cooperation between states cannot become a reason to deny the fundamental values of democracy” and expresses the hope that Lithuania’s foreign and domestic policy based on the promotion of common European values it will remain strong and consistent.
The report also expresses the concern of the Lithuanian judiciary about the judicial reform being carried out by the Polish authorities and the violation of the independence of the judiciary, which “threatens the fundamental principles of the rule of law.
“We express our support to the Polish judiciary, the legal community and civil society as a whole, which opposes judicial reform in the country, which violates the principles of judicial independence and the rule of law,” says the Council of Judges .
According to the Council, the lack of judicial independence has already affected mutual trust between the courts of Poland and other Member States of the European Union.
Skvernel expressed his support for judicial reform by the neighboring country’s authorities during a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Thursday.
The Lithuanian prime minister said he supported the Polish government and said that Lithuania would not support possible sanctions and stressed that judicial reform was “an internal Polish matter”.
The European Commission has launched several infringement procedures related to judicial reforms initiated by the ruling Polish party Law and Justice (PiS). According to Brussels, they challenge democracy and the rule of law by undermining the independence of the judiciary.
PiS maintains that the goal of its reforms is to combat corruption in the judiciary.
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