Poland's Supreme Court chief justice showed up at work today in defiance of a retirement law pushed through by the right-wing government but criticised by the EU as undermining judicial independence.
The European Union on Monday launched legal action against Poland over the reform, the latest salvo in a bitter battle over sweeping judicial changes introduced by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) government that critics have decried as unconstitutional.
According to Amnesty International, judges in Poland are "experiencing political pressure" in connection with the PiS judicial reforms that critics insist pose a threat to the separation of powers that is key to democracy.
Malgorzata Gersdorf has branded the PiS reform, which lowers the retirement age of its judges from 70 to 65, as a "purge of the Supreme Court conducted under the guise of retirement reform."
"Values, goals, norms are constant and unified, but people change and they can make mistakes -- that's why values are the most important and we have to apply and demand those values," Gersdorf said before thanking supporters for "coming so early this morning -- while I overslept!"
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