Judicial independence has deteriorated in 45 countries since 2017, according to a report by Human Rights Outlook published Thursday, noting Poland, China, the Czech Republic and Russia as major offenders.
The document states increasing government interference in courts around the world undermines the rights of citizens and comes at the expense of a level playing field for businesses.
Poland has experienced the steepest decline in judicial independence of any country in the world over the last four years, the report says. A “fragile and backsliding democracy,†according to the report, Poland has overtaken Hungary as the worst-performing country in the EU.Â
Reforms made by the Polish ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) have “heightened the risk of political intervention†when it comes to the selection of judges, the report reads, and a recent ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Court denouncing the primacy of EU law presents a “serious and direct threat to the rule of law order of the EU.†Â
Other European countries getting rapped on the knuckles — while still being considered “low risk†— include Switzerland and the Czech Republic, with the paper noting the replacement of the latter’s justice minister after police launched a fraud investigation into former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
