Tomasz Waszczuk/PAP

Fifty five percent of Poles in a survey by the CBOS pollster criticised the Polish judiciary, 4 percentage points (pps) more than in a similar poll in 2017, while 28 percent said they were pleased with the justice system, 8 pps down from 2017.

Asked about the independence of judges in Poland, 17 percent said judges were fully independent in their rulings and 20 percent disagreed. Forty nine percent said judges sometimes ruled independently and sometimes succumbed to political pressure.

Listing the biggest drawbacks in the Polish justice system, 31 percent named prolonged court proceedings, 26 percent political pressure on courts, 13 percent unfair rulings and the unequal treatment of citizens by courts.

Fifty four percent believed most Poles abided by the law while 37 percent said the opposite. One in 11 respondents could not say.

Sixty two percent supported stricter penalties for criminals, only 6 percent spoke out for milder sentences.

CBOS ran the mixed-mode survey from May 30 to June 9 on a random sample of 1,050 adult Poles.