Poland's president signs controversial reform law

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has signed a widely disputed reforms law, triggering EU warnings that his controversial reforms could undermine rule of law.

"After analysis and reflection, I remain clear: I consider that this change will help strengthen the status and role of the constitutional court," he told reporters on Monday after signing the law.

Under the law, which takes effect immediately, the court must approve rulings by a two-thirds majority rather than a simple majority as at present, and 13 of its 15 judges must be present for the most contentious cases, up from nine.

It also introduces obligatory waiting periods of three to six months between the time a request for a ruling is made and a verdict, compared with the current two weeks.

Duda signed the legislation despite widespread domestic opposition and mounting alarm in the international community.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Warsaw in mid-December in protest against government policies pushed through by the governing conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) that the opposition says threatens judicial independence.

Poland's opposition accuses the PiS of seeking to take control of the court to remove important checks on government power.

Brussels has also voiced concern over developments in Poland.

"The commission is following the constitutional changes in Poland with concern," a spokeswoman for European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in Brussels.

The EU commission is due to discuss the crisis in a fortnight, after Vice President Frans Timmermans wrote to Poland's foreign and justice ministers last week, urging the implementation of the reforms be suspended until all questions about their impact "have been fully and properly assessed."

The eastern European powerhouse plunged into political crisis after the PiS won an election in October after eight years in opposition.

The PiS leader, staunch conservative ex-premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has said he wants to break up the "band of cronies" he says made up the court, which he accuses of trying to block the ruling party's policies.

Kaczynski is neither premier nor president but is widely thought to call the shots in the party and is the undisputed boss of Poland's populist Catholic right.

He is known as a fan of the political model of Hungarian hardline Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has cracked down on media freedoms and the justice system in his own country.

The PiS also has plans to overhaul state media including public television and radio.

Former president Lech Walesa, who led the Solidarity movement that brought an end to communism in Poland, has accused the new government of acting against the country's interests and undermining democracy and called for a referendum to force early elections.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has likewise expressed "concern" about the judicial reforms.

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