Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Poles protest outside parliament in Warsaw

Thousands of Poles have held rallies in the capital Warsaw and other cities to condemn a controversial reform of the judiciary. Protesters say the bill, passed by the Senate on Saturday, will erode judges' independence and undermine democracy. They are protesting at a bill to give MPs and the justice minister the power to appoint judges without consulting judicial circles. The leader of the PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, says the reforms are needed because the judiciary is corrupt and only serves the elites. The bill must still be signed by President Andrzej Duda in order to become law. He has given no indication that he plans to veto it. Since it came to power in 2015, the government of the conservative, populist Law and Justice party (PiS), has passed a series of controversial reforms, triggering mass protests. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Opponents fear the reform will erode the independence of Poland's judiciary

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said the current system of appointing judges was undemocratic. "We want to end corporatism and introduce the oxygen of democracy there," he said. "Because Poland is a democracy based on the rule of law. "This is not court-ocracy," the minister said. Many Poles agree with the government, the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw reports, but many others say this is not about reform but about political control. Image copyright Karolina Stawinska Image caption Thousands tuned out under Polish and EU flags and other banners

The opposition fear the law will give parliament - dominated by PiS lawmakers - indirect control over judicial appointments, violating the constitutional separation of powers. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Paul Adams examines the political scene in Poland

A separate bill was also presented in parliament this week, which would allow the justice minister to get rid of all of Poland's Supreme Court judges and appoint new ones. This piece of legislation was not consulted on beforehand and introduced to parliament in the middle of the night, our correspondent says. It is still being discussed. Under the PiS government, he adds, the justice minister already wields considerable power over the prosecution service in his role as prosecutor general because he can influence prosecutors to launch investigations. Image copyright EPA Image caption Grzegorz Schetyna addressed the crowd, with Ryszard Petru at his side

Opposition leaders like former Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna of Civic Platform and Ryszard Petru of the Modern party took to the stage in Warsaw. The European Commission, which is already investigating Poland for a serious breach of the rule of law, will urgently discuss the developments next week

The Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, said the reforms were a "major setback for judicial independence". Meanwhile, Manfred Weber, leader of the European Parliament's largest grouping the EPP, said: "Law and Justice is putting an end to the rule of law and leaving the European community of values."
Thousands of Poles have held rallies in the capital Warsaw and other cities to condemn a controversial reform of the judiciary. Protestors claim the bill, passed by the Senate on Saturday, will erode judges' independence and undermine democracy.