Poland announces amendments to controversial justice reforms

Warsaw (dpa) - Poland‘s governing party said on Thursday it is planning to make improvements to its contested judicial reform, amid the risk of an unprecedented formal warning from the European Union due to rule of law concerns.The ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) set out new limitations on the powers of Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who had previously replaced several top judges without reason.Under the amended reform, the justice minister will first need to consult the judiciary and the local legal counsel responsible for such appointments before naming new judges, PiS lawmaker Marek Ast announced. The party did not say if the justice minister would be required to follow the judiciary‘s recommendation. Poland‘s opposition dismissed the changes as "window dressing." Ast said retirement age for female judges would also be raised from 60 to 65 to match that of male judges, following criticism from Brussels over gender discrepancy.Poland‘s government has come under fire from the opposition, Polish non-governmental organizations and the European Union over its efforts to overhaul the country‘s judiciary. Critics argue the laws give the government too much influence over the judicial branch.In December, the European Commission launched an unprecedented formal warning process against Poland over the changes, threatening to suspend the country‘s voting rights in the bloc.