‚The authorities will try to use the carrot-and-stick method: a stick for those judges who are fighting for the rule of law, and a carrot for those they try to persuade over to them,’ believes Judge Waldemar Żurek. We discuss scenarios of further changes in courts and judges’ reactions to them.’

‚What are the judges in Poland afraid of? We talk to Judge Waldemar Żurek of Kraków, press officer for the legal ‘old’ National Council of the Judiciary, one of the main critics of the changes in courts in Poland after 2015. A total of 12 disciplinary and investigative proceedings have been initiated against judge Żurek in retaliation for his activity.’

‚Judge Żurek recently refused to adjudicate with people who were appointed or promoted with the involvement of the new NCJ, citing the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 15 July. The same position was taken by the legal judges of the Supreme Court.’

‚We discuss possible changes and their consequences for the independence of the judiciary in Poland. The interview was recorded before Rzeczpospolita daily wrote about government plans for further court “reform”.’

Text comes from the Rule of Law website 

Full article: ‚Judge Żurek: the authorities will try to bribe and intimidate the judges. But this won’t work’