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Poles protest against new Supreme Court legislation that will require the top third of judges to retire before the Court of First Instance in Warsaw, Poland on Monday, July 2, 2018. The European Union Monday opened a lawsuit against Poland on what it considers to be flaws in Poland's Supreme Court law, the intensification of a stalemate that threatens the voting rights of the EU and the financing of Poland. (Czarek Sokolowski / Associated Press)
WARSAW, Poland – An aide to Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday that the supreme justice of the Supreme Court has no choice but to retire , even though she says that her term runs until 2020 under the The first President of the Supreme Court Malgorzata Gersdorf is forced to resign as legislation comes into force in Poland, which will bring back the age of the mandatory retirement of judges aged 70 to 65, a change that could exceed one-third
. Gersdorf, 65, promised to stay on the ground and said she plans to report to work in downtown Warsaw as usual Wednesday. Lech Walesa, the icon of democracy, said he would join protesters who plan to defend her in the Supreme Court.
"My tenure as head of the Supreme Court is brutally curtailed, even though it is enshrined in the constitution" at a conference that she gave before Presidential aid say that she would not be allowed to continue on the ground. "We can talk about a crisis of the rule of law in Poland, a lack of respect for the constitution."
The reshuffle of the Supreme Court represents the culmination of a complete overhaul of the Polish judicial system that gives the right to …
The redesign began after the arrival in power of the Law Party and Justice in 2015 and has gradually expanded. The Constitutional Court, the court that determines whether the law is enacted by law, was the first placed under the control of the party.
The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in criminal and civil matters in Poland. Judges also decide on the validity of elections
European officials and international human rights groups have expressed concern that these movements represent an erosion of judicial independence that violates Western norms and a reversal of democracy in Poland. Szuleka, a lawyer at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Warsaw, said that forcing Gersdorf to retire before the end of his term is a "flagrant violation of the Constitution".
opened an "infringement procedure" Monday on the Supreme Court law. The action is the second of the commission against Poland and could lead to further lawsuits and fines.
But some observers say that the procedure arrived too late to preserve the independence of the courts in the 29-year-old democracy. The government insists that it improves the justice system in Poland, saying that it was ineffective and controlled by a "caste" of judges. He argues that putting judges under the control of the legislature and the executive will make the courts accountable to the electorate, and therefore more democratic.
The lowering of mandatory retirement age touches 27 of the 73 court judges. Some of them have asked Duda for extensions of their service. Gersdorf, however, did not argue that the Constitution guaranteed his continued office.
Presidential adviser Pawel Mucha said Tuesday that the Chief Justice's failure to seek an extension prevented her from remaining on the bench. On Tuesday, dozens of people protested in front of the presidential palace before a meeting with Gersdorf, waving a sign saying: "The one who breaks the highest The law is a traitor to the nation."
The Nobel Prize winner of the Peace, Walesa, said that he would come to Warsaw from his hometown of Gdansk on Wednesday to defend the Supreme Court.
Vanessa Gera in Warsaw 19659024] Copyright 2018 The Associated Press All rights are This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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