Polish Sejm stalls on migration‑policy and rule‑of‑law bills

The Polish Sejm held the first reading of a citizen‑initiated draft law aimed at ending Poland’s participation in the EU’s common asylum and migration policy. The proposal, backed by more than 166,000 signatures collected by Robert Bąkiewicz, would allow the government to invoke EU treaty provisions to suspend migration obligations and proposes prison sentences of up to eight years for officials who facilitate the admission of non‑EU citizens. The governing coalition seeks to reject the draft outright, while the opposition and right‑wing parties argue the debate should continue.

A separate, extensive rule‑of‑law reform bill introduced in January has also stalled. After an initial reading and a lengthy public hearing, the Justice and Human Rights Committee failed to meet a quorum and halted further work. Vice‑minister Dariusz Mazur and deputy committee chair Patryk Jaskulski cited scheduling conflicts and health appointments for the lack of attendance, describing the pause as a procedural hiccup rather than abandonment of the legislation.