Judges against Supreme Court reform 'destined to disgraceful failure': PiS head
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
04.07.2018 08:27
Judges opposed to Poland's Supreme Court reforms, which saw the court's head forced into early retirement on Tuesday, are “destined to disgraceful failure”, the leader of the ruling conservatives said.
People protest in Warsaw with signs reading "Mr President, you swore on the constitution" and "free courts, free elections, free Poland". Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell.
The reforms were protested in a number of major Polish cities as they came into effect on Tuesday.
In an interview for the Gazeta Polska weekly, Jarosław Kaczyński said that “it cannot be ruled out” that judges who are against the changes want to create an “alternate legal reality”.
“That can be evidenced if only by the declarations of six Supreme Court judges about [First President Małgorzata] Gersdorf,”Kaczyński added.
Six judges from the top Polish court issued a statement that Gersdorf would serve until the end of her constitutionally-mandated six-year term in 2020.
Kaczyński warned that the judges may have to deal with the “consequences of breaking the law,” according to Gazeta Polska.
The Supreme Court's judges' statement came just ahead of new laws being enforced, lowering the retirement age for Supreme Court judges to 65, which saw 27 judges, more than a third of the Supreme Court, forced into retirement.
Meanwhile, the Polish constitution reads that judges are selected for an “indefinite period” and “shall not be removed”.
The European Commission has also slammed the Supreme Court reforms, taking Poland to court with claims that the new laws undermine the independence of the judiciary and the “irremovability of judges”.
But Kaczyński said that, under European Union law, “legislation governing the courts … is the internal matter of each country,” Gazeta Polska reported.
The case against Warsaw is the latest chapter in an ongoing saga over perceived threats to the rule of law in Poland since Kaczyński's Law and Justice party came to power in late 2015.
The party has introduced controversial sweeping changes to the judiciary, claiming that Polish courts are inefficient and judges sometimes corrupt. (vb)