EU court blocks Polish Supreme Court law forcing judges to retire: NPR

The highest court of the European Union on Friday ordered Poland to amend a law resulting in the dismissal of nearly a third of the country's Supreme Court judges and to rehabilitate those who had been dismissed from their homes. functions.

The temporary suspension of the European Court of Justice also prohibits the appointment of new judges – most of whom are friends of President Andrzej Duda and his right-wing populist party – and orders the authorities to restore the composition of the judiciary before its promulgation. law lowering the age of retirement of judges from 70 to 65 years old in July.

By changing the age of retirement, by forcing more than 20 judges since its implementation – including the first president of the Supreme Court – and giving President Andrzej Duda the discretion to choose who should continue to sit and appoint replacement judges ", violates EU law," said the ECJ in its decision.

The suspension comes into effect immediately and will remain in force while the ECJ determines the legality of Poland's new rules under EU law. Failure to comply with this decision could expose Poland to heavy fines. The ECJ has announced that it will make a final judgment at a later date.

Polish officials issued contradictory messages following the announcement. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters at an EU-Asia summit in Brussels that the government had not reviewed the court decision.

"I can say that after a thorough analysis, we will take a stand," he said, according to Reuters.

Beata Mazurek, spokesperson of the Duda Party for Law and Justice, assured the public on Twitter that Poland "is a member of the EU and will act in accordance with the law in force on the EU".

But Krzysztof Szczerski, Duda's chief of staff, has taken an opposite stance: The Washington Post has stated that it "is impossible for the law to work in the opposite way."

Duda and the ruling party argue that the recasting of the court is necessary to eradicate corruption by judges dating back to the communist era and to repair an inefficient system.

Critics argue that it is the last stage of an assault on authoritarian reforms of the judicial system that has lasted for three years and that gives the government too much power.

In December 2017, the European Commission launched a so-called "Article 7" procedure against Poland, a process that could lead to sanctions, including the loss of the country's voting rights in the European Union. This is the result of a break that has stretched the relationship between the commission and Duda and his party since 2015.

Monika Frackowiak, a Polish judge and member of Iusticia, the largest judicial association in the country, said Friday's decision "is of fundamental importance", adding that the group hoped "that it will put an end to this process of demolition of the judiciary ".

Covadonga de la Campa, Acting Director of the Office of the European Institutions of Amnesty International, also praised the decision.

"Today's court decision makes it clear that it is unacceptable for Poland to ignore the most fundamental principles of the EU, in defiance of ongoing judicial proceedings in the highest court of the EU. EU, "said De la Campa in a statement. "The Polish authorities have hastily appointed new judges despite the ongoing infringement procedure and the Article 7 procedure. It is alarming that even though rule of law is one of the cornerstones of the European Union, things have gone so far. "