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Polish president vetoes controversial court reforms

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Monday vetoed controversial judicial reforms that had prompted huge street protests and threats of unprecedented EU sanctions. The veto came as a surprise move from Duda, a close ally of the ruling rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party that had pushed the reforms. Duda said he had made his decision after extensive consultations with legal experts at the weekend, when thousands of people took to the streets across Poland urging him to veto proposals that have led critics to accuse the government of threatening the rule of law. The reforms will now pass back to parliament to be amended and would need a three-fifths majority -- which the PiS does not have -- to go through. "I have decided to send back to parliament -- therefore, to veto -- the law on the Supreme Court, as well as the law on the National Council of the Judiciary," Duda said in a televised announcement. "This law would not strengthen the sense of justice" in society, he said. His veto was immediately welcomed by the opposition. "It's without a doubt a step in the right direction," said Kamila Pihowicz-Gasiuk, a lawmaker from the liberal Nowoczesna party. "It's proof that pressure from citizens can work." The reforms would have increased political control over the judiciary, sparking an outcry amongst critics who said the PiS party was seeking to reduce the independence of the courts. "It should not be part of our tradition that the attorney general can interfere in the work of the Supreme Court," Duda said. The role of attorney general is held by the justice minister in Poland, and the change was among reforms that had sparked concern over the rule of law. - Candlelit protest - The Polish senate had on Saturday backed the reforms, but they had still needed the president's sign-off. But Monday's veto was a surprise as Duda is closely allied with the PiS. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across Poland in recent days to oppose the bill, including huge crowds of people who held a candlelit protest outside the Supreme Court on Sunday night urging Duda to veto the changes. Several hundred had gathered at the court again on Monday. The European Commission had threatened to halt Poland's voting rights over the proposed reforms -- a so-called "nuclear option" that the EU had never invoked -- while the United States had also expressed concern. The government has defended the reforms, calling them indispensable to combat corruption and streamline the judicial system. The PiS, which began making changes to the judiciary after coming to power in late 2015, has argued that resistance to the initiatives is a case of the elite defending its privileges. Under the current system, candidates for the Supreme Court are selected by an independent body consisting mainly of judges but also a few politicians.