Polish judges set for showdown with government over reforms

Polish Supreme Court judges including the body's chief justice were set for a showdown with the EU country's right-wing government today, as they vowed to defy controversial reforms forcing their retirement.

Demonstrations in support of the defiant judges were scheduled for today and tomorrow around the Supreme Court offices in Warsaw.

Backing their stance, the European Union yesterday launched legal action against Poland over the Supreme Court reforms that critics have decried as unconstitutional.

The European Commission, the bloc's powerful executive arm, said a move to reduce the age at which Supreme Court judges must retire from 70 to 65 would undermine judicial independence, breaching Poland's obligations under EU law.

The new retirement age, introduced by Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) government, comes into force today and would require more than a third of current Supreme Court judges to step down.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda will formally retire Supreme Court Justice Malgorzata Gersdorf today, presidential aide Anna Surowka-Pasek told the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily yesterday.

But Supreme Court spokesman Michal Laskowski has said that "she intends to remain in her post until April 30, 2020, in line with the provisions of the Polish Constitution."
Supreme Court justices last Thursday endorsed Gersdorf's right to keep her post. They also said that any Supreme Court justice who took up their duties before the day the new reform comes into force "should remain in their post until the age of 70, without meeting any additional conditions."
"Its decision will be very important for the EU because it will define the extent to which EU law can interfere in the autonomy of member states in the way they organise their judicial systems," Szymanski told AFP. "All member states will follow (this case) with a lot of attention because we will be moving into unknown territory."