WARSAW: Poland’s disputed top judge showed up at work on Wednesday in defiance of a retirement law pushed through by the right-wing government but criticised by the EU as a threat to judicial independence.

Chanting “Free courts!”, “Consti­tu­tion!” and “Irre­mov­able!” several thousand supporters greeted Sup­reme Court chief justice Malgorzata Gersdorf as she made her way into the court building in central Warsaw.

Gersdorf has branded the reform — which has put Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) government at loggerheads with Brussels — a “purge”.

Insisting that she has a six-year term under the constitution, Gersdorf, 65, refused to comply with the new rules that require her to step down immediately, cutting short her tenure that was set to end in 2020.

“I’m not engaging in politics; I’m doing this to defend the rule of law and to testify to the truth about the line between the constitution and the violation of the constitution,” Gersdorf told journalists and supporters outside the court. “I hope that legal order will return to Poland,” she said.

Twenty-seven of the court’s 73 judges are affec­ted. Under the law, the ju­­d­ges can ask the president to prolong their terms, but he can accept or deny their requests without giving a reason. Sixteen judges have made requests, according to Polish media reports.

‘Rape of the Supreme Court’

The European Union on Monday launched legal ac­­t­ion against Poland over the new rules, which lower the retirement age of Sup­reme Court judges from 70 to 65.

It was the latest salvo in a bitter battle over sweeping judicial changes introduced by the PiS government that could end up in the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the bloc’s top tribunal.

“Rape of the Supreme Court,” thundered an editorial in leading liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza.

Presidential aide Pawel Mucha insisted that Gersdorf was “going into retirement in accordance with the law” and said the court was now headed by Judge Jozef Iwulski, who was chosen by President Andrzej Duda as an interim chief justice.

The government has refused to back down despite the EU legal action, insisting the reforms are needed to tackle corruption and overhaul a judicial system still haunted by the communist era.

Critics have warned that the judicial overhaul poses a threat to the separation of powers, a key pillar of de­­m­o­cracy in the EU member state. “Poland is a Euro­pe­­an country and it is imperative that its judges are completely independent — this is fundamental to guarante­eing citizens’ rights,” said Draginja Nadazdin, director of Amnesty Inter­nat­ional’s Poland bureau.

The European Commis­s­ion, the bloc’s powerful exe­­­­­­­cutive arm, said Monday that the court reforms undermine “the irremovability of judges” and judicial independence, breaching Pol­and’s obligations under EU law. Poland has a month to respond and the dispute cou­­­­ld end up in the Euro­pean Court of Justice (ECJ), the bloc’s top tribunal.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2018