Polish protests against the government's judiciary reforms continued for a sixth day on July 23, as crowds sought to add to pressure on President Andrzej Duda to veto the controversial bills that would give the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party control over the country’s courts.

Three cornerstone bills on the judiciary, including the most contested bill overhauling the Supreme Court, need Duda’s signature to become law. The president can also send the bills to the Constitutional Tribunal – which is under control of PiS – for review.

The latter is what the crowds protesting in Warsaw and well over 100 other locations across Poland are demanding. Despite lasting for several days, the protests on July 23 – which ended in the early hours of the following day – appeared to have maintained a strong turnout.

Duda is yet to comment on the protests and is widely believed to be set to sign off on the bills or to send them to the Constitutional Tribunal. A veto appears unlikely to come from the president, who usually acts as a loyal PiS functionary.

Should the president veto any – or all – of the bills, it would likely derail the reform, as PiS would have to seek support from the opposition to unblock the process. The only opposition party that could talk to PiS is the fickle Kukiz 15, but even that populist party has distanced itself from the issue, although it is also not keen on the protests either. PiS would also need support from independent MPs.

PiS claims the Polish judiciary needs reform to end its corporatism, but the reforms are seen as unconstitutional and uprooting Poland’s system of checks and balances.

There has been widespread criticism of the reforms from abroad, with the European Commission pledging to step up action against Poland. Perhaps more painfully for PiS, the US state department also criticised the ruling party, just a couple weeks after President Donald Trump visited Warsaw.

The protests are currently expected to intensify on July 24, as Duda’s office said the president will meet the head of the Supreme Court Malgorzata Gersdorf in the morning.