Poland's assault on judicial independence is costing them money

 Soon after the PIS (Law and Justice Party) gained an absolute majority in the Polish parliament, it has sought to influence the country's judiciary. The ostensible reason was to rid the court system of Soviet appointees and Russian influence. The undemocratic reform has, however, drawn heavy criticism from other free nations and the European Commission. Last month, the EU's court, the ECJ, ruled that "Poland's judicial reform infringes upon European law because it undermines the right to have access to an independent and impartial judiciary". Euronews explained:

The ruling is an unambiguous rejection of the reform introduced in 2019 by the hard-right government of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which sparked an intense dispute between Warsaw and Brussels.

The contentious reform changed the rules that govern the relations between courts, preventing judges from assessing each other's compliance with EU legal standards and questioning a tribunal's composition.

It also empowered the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court to punish magistrates according to the content of their verdicts. Possible penalties included a reduction of salary, the temporary suspension of duties and the waiver of immunity to allow the initiation of criminal proceedings.

The chamber has been repeatedly criticised by the European Commission, the United Nations and civil society organisations as a political tool to exert control over the judiciary and weaken the separation of powers.

The Commission filed a legal case before the ECJ in March 2021 after its negotiations with the Polish government failed to deliver a satisfying result.

Warsaw struck a defiant tone and insisted the reform was necessary to purge the influence of the communist era, strengthen the apolitical character of the judiciary and crack down on corruption.

The European Court of Justice later ruled the chamber was incompatible with EU law and imposed a series of interim measures and ordered its dismantlement.

Poland's continued refusal to comply with the interim measures led the ECJ to slap a record-breaking €1 million fine per day on the country, which was reduced to €500,000 a day after the disciplinary body was replaced with a "chamber of professional responsibility."

The fine is being deducted from Poland's allocation of the EU budget and ceases to apply as of Monday.

Poland now owes €534 million, according to the European Commission, a sum accrued between October 2021, when the fine was established, and April 2023, when it was downsized.

Candide in six parts?

 Search for "making opera more accessible" and you will turn up dozens of possible solutions (such as this one) to the problem facing opera companies, that of attracting new audiences. As traditional audiences age, it is difficult to counteract the image of opera as stuffy. 

Perhaps the opera world should take a leaf from television's book (and that of the streamers). Multi-part drama series are perennially popular. Why not give longer operas the same treatment? I am not suggesting that they start with the Everest of the Ring Cycle, but the foothills of opera would provide a gentle introduction. Leonard Bernstein's Candide is an excellent candidate. It has good tunes and it is episodic, which makes it fairly easy to parcel up into 30 or 40 minute episodes.  Besides, there is much material discarded by Bernstein from the final stage version (much to the chagrin of his hard-working collaborators) which could be mined if the first TV serial offering proved popular.

Proms: nothing to frighten the horses

 The First Night of BBC's Promenade Concerts included a new composition but for once it did nothing to attract controversy Bohdana Frolyak's Let there be light was less challenging than a Sibelius rarity, Snöfrid. It looks as if this is part of the pattern of the rest of the series, old favourites, works favouring Ukraine and several tonal rediscoveries. I am particularly looking forward to one of these, Grace Williams' violin concerto, which features in Prom 32 on 8th August. Unless I am missing something, there is no representative of the Second Viennese School for which I personally am glad but which some musical high priests may see as "dumbing down".

Threat to antibiotic resistance counter-measures

 The DeSmog pressure group reports:

Proposed laws to curb antibiotic use on UK farms drafted after closed-door meetings with industry contain loopholes that could undermine the fight against deadly drug resistant bacteria, campaigners have warned.

The government published the draft legislation, designed to replace European Union rules post-Brexit, following consultations with pharmaceutical, veterinary medicine and farming lobby groups, according to Freedom of Information requests filed by DeSmog. 

Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, a coalition of health, sustainable farming and civil society organisations, said it had written repeatedly to the government to request meetings on the legislation, but had not received a response.

“It’s clear the consultation was biased in favour of certain industry interests that have quite consistently opposed stronger regulations on antibiotic use,” said Cóilín Nunan, scientific adviser to the coalition.

Excessive use of farm antibiotics is a major driver of antibiotic resistance worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Without stronger policies to counter the emergence of new superbugs, the 700,000 annual deaths caused by antimicrobial resistance could reach 10 million by 2050 – more than currently die from cancer, according to a 2016 report.

The UK’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate held a series of workshops with representatives of the pharmaceutical, veterinary medicine industries, and other “regulatory partners” to discuss the proposed legislation from December 2021 to July 2022, according to the Freedom of Information requests. Civil society groups were not invited. 

HS2

 Plaid's Hywel Williams once again spoke for many when he questioned the deputy prime minister in the Commons yesterday about the distortion in rail funding as a result of the HS2 project.  Deputy Oliver Dowden was unable to give a straight answer. Meanwhile, the project's chief executive announced his resignation in the wake of confusion as to whether there will be a central London terminus as originally planned. 

John Redwood reminded us that there was opposition to this grand projet from the Tory backbenches and not just from constituencies along the line of construction. 

Huw Edwards

 So the perpetrator is the face of the BBC and of the Establishment? I guessed at someone rather more louche. Most people were surely as surprised as I was at the identity of the man who solicited indecent photographs of young men and who bullied them into not revealing their relationship. However, a number of radio presenters, before today's revelation, stated that it was an open secret in Broadcasting House and that the man fingered but not named by the Sun newspaper should come forward.

The evidence presented to the police did not warrant criminal proceedings, nor has anyone accused Edwards of paedophilia. His behaviour has, though, brought the BBC into disrepute. BBC News accepts that he was responsible for threatening and "abusive, expletive-filled messages" sent to a young man who had provided sexually-explicit pictures and was in dispute with Edwards about payment for them. It would not be surprising if other young men, hitherto cowed by Edwards' status and threats, now were emboldened to come forward. It has to be admitted that there will  be false accusations also, but it should be easy to separate the true from the false.

There is a BBC internal investigation. Is it too much to hope that it will not be conducted by those who knew about Edwards' proclivities and protected him? Given that many in the corporation were quickly able to put a name to the subject of the Sun's scoop, how long have people known about Edwards' extra-marital activities, and why was nothing done earlier? How many other presenters have carried on in a way which has clearly been regarded as normal? It seems that the BBC had learned nothing from the Jonathan King and Jimmy Savile affairs.

Two wrongs do not make a right

 Behind the bland public media release covering the Biden-Sunak forty-minute meeting, one trusts that in private our prime minister expressed disapproval of the US decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine. Biden's rationale is that, like the US, neither Ukraine nor Russian subscribe to the international convention on cluster munitions, and that Russia is already using cluster bombs against Ukraine. But when the war is over, Ukrainian agriculture and people will pay a price as a result of unexploded bomblets which may remain  in the soil for a generation or more.

Blogging willl be light

because of the coincidence of Wimbledon and the insane timetable of back-to-back Tests against Australia.