Polish president OKs plan to reinstate Supreme Court judges

The country’s parliamentarians last month approved legislation aiming to reinstate retired justices and reverse a move that had triggered a row between Warsaw and Brussels.

The planned change in rules then went to President Andrzej Duda for signature.

The new Polish law, written by the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, repeals provisions under which judges above the age of 65, including the chief justice, were forced into retirement earlier this year.

The Court of Justice of the European Union in October issued an interim injunction ruling that the contested reforms to Poland’s Supreme Court should be suspended.

In July, the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, launched a procedure against Warsaw over the reform, arguing that it undermined “the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges.”

That move followed the European Commission last December taking the unprecedented step of triggering Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland, stepping up pressure on Warsaw over judicial reforms and possibly paving the way for sanctions being imposed on Poland.

Poland's governing Law and Justice party, which came to power in late 2015, has said that sweeping changes are needed to reform an inefficient and sometimes corrupt judicial system tainted by the communist past.

(gs/pk)

Source: TVP, PAP