Polish Parliament Defies Court Ruling, Reviving Rule-of-Law Row

(Bloomberg) -- Poland’s parliament is defying a binding court decision, reigniting a debate over the country’s alleged retreat from democratic standards before the fall general elections.

The legislature’s chancellery said on Tuesday that, for now, it would disregard a final Supreme Administrative Court ruling calling on it to publish the names of judges who backed candidates for a revamped judiciary panel. The move comes after privacy concerns were raised by the state’s Personal Data Protection Office.

The contested judiciary panel is at the heart of Poland’s standoff with the European Union over whether the country has undermined the bloc’s rule-of-law standards by boosting politicians’ sway over courts. The government rejects the accusations, saying it has a public mandate to change a court system run by corrupt judges.

“The situation is quite simple -- we have a ruling which can’t be appealed and must be carried out,” opposition lawmaker Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz told reporters in Warsaw.

Election Topic?

The pro-EU opposition is struggling to boost its support ahead of the election, expected in October, as the government ramps up welfare handouts and enthusiastic support from public television, which is run by a former ruling party lawmaker.

Read more about how EU powers are criticizing Poland over democratic backsliding

An opinion survey by pollster IBRiS and published by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily on Tuesday showed Law & Justice winning 41.7% of the vote, compared with a combined 35.2% for pro-EU blocs.

The lower house of parliament said in a statement on its website that it can’t fulfill the court ruling and publish the names because the Personal Data Protection Office is checking whether doing so would breech Polish and EU privacy rules. It’s not clear when the state agency would end its investigation, parliament spokesman Andrzej Grzegrzolka said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wojciech Moskwa in Warsaw at wmoskwa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andrea Dudik

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