Poles will finally have a real influence on courts. Most minor and medium-sized cases will be decided by non-professional judges, elected in a general and democratic vote. Professional judges will be relieved, so that the investigation of justice before the general courts will become faster – he announced during today's (18 March (b) a press conference of the Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro.
The Ministry of Justice prepared a project introducing into the Polish legal order an institution of courts and magistrates of peace. This is a solution that is in line with social expectations. This was confirmed by a survey conducted in February this year on behalf of the Ministry. 58% Poles supported in this study the idea of introducing peace judges chosen by citizens.
Selected in every district
Details of the new solutions were presented by Deputy Minister Sebastian Kaleta. – The judges of peace are the slogan that comes back in discussions about changing the judicial model. Therefore, we present a ready-made project, which would allow this institution to enter the Polish justice system," he said.
Non-professional judges, elected in the general election, will rule in minor civil and criminal matters, such as thefts and vandalism, defective performance of services, such as renovation, sale of defective goods. They will recognise cases of the value of the crime, the value of the damage or the value of the claim to 10,000 PLN.
The magistrates of the peace will be elected in each district for five-year term during local elections, which enjoy high attendance. This mode of choice guarantees a peace judge a mandate of public confidence. The number of peace judges in a given district will depend, among others, on the number of its residents, as well as on the temporary residents, e.g. in connection with work.
The office of the judge of peace will be able to hold any resident of the county from the age of 30 to 75 years. Higher law education will not be a requirement to apply for this function, and it will be up to voters to entrust it to a person who has legal qualifications, or to choose a person with other education, but who enjoys authority in the local community, e.g. due to his past professional activity, integrity of character, life experience.
Full independence
The office of the judge of the room will only exceptionally be connected with other professional activities if this does not affect the performance of the judicial tasks. Due to a possible conflict of interest, a judge of peace will not become a lawyer, e.g. a lawyer, legal counsellor, notary, bailiff or prosecutor. The same applies to representatives of uniformed services, as well as employees of government or local government administrations.
The judge of peace will be independent, subject only to the constitutions and laws. Cases will be assigned to judges at random. The rulings of the courts of peace will be executed by regional courts. The decision of the peace court will be appealed to the district court.
Amendments to the Constitution
Together with the Peace Judges Act, the Ministry of Justice prepared a draft amendment to the Constitution. It is an initial proposal to indicate which provisions of the Constitution should be modified so that the judges of peace can act effectively.
The draft provides, among other things, for the introduction of new provisions in the basic law which state that "the judiciary may also be exercised by judges of peace" (Article 175(3)), who “are selected for 5-year term in general, equal, direct and secret ballot" (Article 182a(1))).
Without any change in the constitution of the proceedings before the courts of peace would be tri-instantial. Such a model would slow down the examination of simple cases as the District Court would have to carry out a full evidence investigation.
The amendment of the Constitution introducing the courts of peace will allow them to be regarded as courts of first instance, so that the District Court would only recognize the appeal. The duality of the proceedings would be maintained and the courts of peace, based on a simplified procedure, could identify simple matters more quickly.