Thousands protest against judicial reforms in Poland



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WARSAW: Thousands of anti-government protesters hit the street Thursday night (July 26) to rally to a series of judicial reforms that the EU has described as a threat to the independence of the judiciary and the primacy of the law.

the protests are the latest salvo in a fierce battle over the radical judicial changes introduced by the government of law and justice (PiS)

They led the EU to launch a procedure without previous against Poland on "systemic threats" to the rule of law that could see its voting rights of the EU suspended.

Singing "Shame!", "Free Courses!" and "We will defend democracy!", several thousand protesters gathered in front of the presidential palace in Warsaw a few hours after the signing by Allied President of the PiS, Andrzej Duda, of a controversial measure allowing the government to choose the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Warsaw lawyer Bozena Rojek, 68, said she had returned to protest in the same street where she had rallied to the brutal suppression of martial law of the Communist Party. 1981 against the Solidarnosc trade union. ", She told AFP

" Today, everything collapses before our very eyes "Rojek added

HONORED BY COMMUNISM?

The new law signed Thursday by Duda is part of a series of PiS judicial reforms aimed at replacing judges up to the Constitutional Court and Suprem Despite concerns about democratic norms, the PiS insists that reforms tackle corruption and rehabilitate a judicial system still haunted by the communist era of Poland

About one-third of the 73 Supreme Court judges, including Malgorzata Gersdorf Rejecting as a violation of his six-year term ending in 2020, Gersdorf refused to go there, gaining widespread support from Supreme Court justices, the summit of Europe.

The law signed by Duda on Thursday aims to speed up his replacement by allowing the next Chief Justice to be chosen when 80 judges are appointed to the Supreme Court, down from 110, a relative. The EU also questioned Supreme Court reforms that undermined the independence of the judiciary, thus violating Poland's obligations under EU law.

We have until the beginning of August to respond to the official announcement of the commission, first step of a procedure that could lead to the Court of Justice of the European Communities , the supreme court of the bloc, where the law could be repealed. , s, id) {
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