Poland is cladding the prospect of an unprecedented institutional crisis, amid escalating tensions between its nationalist oversight and the EU.
Thousands of people took part in anti-government protests in Warsaw and distinct other Polish cities late Tuesday, after the country’s ruling Law and Rightfulness party (PiS) implemented legislation that could force as many as one-third of the top court’s mark time judges to step down.
Nonetheless, despite judicial reforms effectively arm-twisting her to retire, Poland’s Supreme Court chief justice took a challenging stand against President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday.
Less than 24 hours after vowing to battle to protect the constitution and the independence of Poland’s courts, Malgorzata Gersdorf gained to work at Warsaw’s courthouse building on Wednesday morning.
Surrounded by hundreds of enlivening supporters, Gersdorf told reporters: “My presence here is not about diplomacy. I am here to protect the rule of law.”
On Tuesday, PiS implemented legislation to lower the required retirement age for justices to 65 from 70. They also called for a disciplinary judicature to be established, stoking fears the right-wing administration could soon use the directive to tyrannize judges.
Under the new rules, Gersdorf — who is 65 years old — was required to ask Duda for an span of her mandate from Wednesday. However, she refused to seek permission from Poland’s president to go on as the country’s top judge, reportedly saying this would constitute “subordination.”
Wholly legislation and personnel changes, PiS has sought to assume de facto control of the political entity’s judicial system since coming to power in 2015. This incorporates radical changes to Poland’s constitutional tribunal and prosecutors — who now both appear directly to the justice minister.
Poland’s government argues such transforms are necessary in order to help combat corruption and improve the court’s expertise.
At the start of the week, the European Commission opened a fresh legal example against Poland, saying recent changes to Poland’s legislation had hurt its judicial independence.
The ongoing conflict has isolated Poland within the EU, while also unveiling the bloc’s apparent inability to rein in governments that contradict its gist democratic values.
Meanwhile, under a separate legal procedure despatched by the EU late last year, Warsaw has found itself in danger of evading its voting rights in the bloc. Hungary, another country in the EU facing feverish criticism over democratic standards, has pledged to block this go.
“The tense Warsaw-Brussels relations may further boost euroskeptic sentiment in Poland, remarkably in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections in May and October 2019, respectively,” Otilia Dhand, higher- ranking vice president at Teneo Intelligence, told CNBC via email.