From 2015 The Ministry of Justice is working on reform of the judiciary. Although the draft reform of the universal courts has not yet been published, its basic assumptions are already known. The main changes are the liquidation of the appeal courts, as well as the appointment of peace judges to take over from the general courts the ruling on minor cases.
The judges of peace are a characteristic institution of the common law system countries, operating today in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia and Belgium. On Polish lands, this institution existed in the 19th and early 20th centuries, where the judges of peace dealt with minor civil and criminal matters. Now he's due back by reforming the courts.
The institution of peace judges, although common law countries, seems to be artificially implemented into the domestic legal order
Judges without legal education
Peacemakers could be those who have completed 35 years and have adequate ‘life experience’. They would be elected in general elections in any district. Interestingly, they will not be required to have a legal education.
Critics indicate that this constitutes a violation of the constitutional right to review the case by an independent, impartial and independent court. Doubts are raised as to whether persons without knowledge of the law will be able to ensure a fair course of action and to give a fair judgment.
For example, in Quebec (the province of Canada) peace judges are appointed from among lawyers having at least 10 years of experience.
The Ministry explains that the judges of peace would deal with categories of cases in which legal knowledge is not necessary, and judgments would be based on the life experience of judges, their common sense and their sense of justice and integrity. Furthermore, appeals against decisions of peace judges would be decided by common courts.
No information on the height of the dispute
In line with the principles of reform, peace judges would have jurisdiction over minor civil and criminal matters. This would be a matter of petty theft, refusal to accept a mandate, or defective performance of services. Doubtful is the lack of information about the height of the dispute in which the judges of peace are to decide.
Some cases to be settled in their jurisdiction (e.g. failure to carry out repairs) sometimes involve the value of the content of the dispute going down to tens. one thousand Gold. For example, in Belgium, peace judges deal with matters of no greater value than 2,500 EUR.
The fundamental assumption of reform, which is the establishment of institutions of peace judges, was met with a wave of criticism. The institution of peace judges, although common law, seems to be artificially implemented into the domestic legal order. Although this institution was present in Poland in the interwar period in the 20th century, this was due to the need to settle disputes in the absence of enough educated lawyers, which is no longer the case today.