Zbigniew Ziobro: If we get a public mandate, we will complete the reform of the judiciary

If the current authorities are given a public mandate for another term of office, the reform of the judiciary will be completed

— announced the Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro in Łomża (Podlaskie).

There is a huge potential for change there; one could say Augean stable

— he said.

During an open meeting with the residents of Łomża, Ziobro listed the successes of his ministry, which, as he said, were reflected in the state budget. He pointed to the institution of extended confiscation as a way to fight against concealment of assets and income from criminal activity; he also talked about the so-called VAT carousels and the recovery of money from this type of fraud.

He admitted that the Law and Justice government failed to implement reforms of the judiciary during this term of office.

Unfortunately, this was not the way we would have liked it to have been, as a result of the huge war that had been waged not only against us, but also against the Polish citizens, Polish democracy, by the total opposition in the Parliament, by the judiciary elites, who did not want to accept the loss of influence and power, and finally, by the European Commission and European forces, who decided to throw a wrench into the great reform that we were preparing

— said Ziobro.

Just as we managed to implement the extended confiscation penalty, as we managed to implement and finalise the changes in the area of combating VAT crime, just as we managed to reform the Polish prosecutor’s office, which is an important body implementing the acts I am talking about, so unfortunately, we encountered resistance (in the reform of the judiciary)

— the minister said.

But our goal is to finalise what we have started in this field as well. And I am convinced that if we get an electoral mandate, we will bring about a qualitative change in the Polish judiciary

— assured Ziobro.

There is a huge potential for change, one could say Augean stable. There is a lot of evil there; a lot of harm is done to people - through unjust judgments, through a dysfunctional justice system, procedures which last for months. But I am convinced that it is also possible to make changes there that will affect the quality of life of Poles; that these changes will be visible and felt by the state

— he was talking to the participants of the meeting.

Tłum. K.J.