Polish government curtails constitutional tribunal's powers

Poland's parliament passed a law on Tuesday (22 December) to change the functionning of the Constitutional Tribunal, in a move that increases concerns over creeping authoritarianism by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS).

Two hundred and thirty five members of the Sejm voted in favour of the bill, which imposes a two-thirds majority among the 15 constitutional judges, instead of a simple majority, with a quorum of 13 judges instead of nine.

The new law also extends from two wee...