Poland faces fines threat over court reforms

POLAND faces huge daily fines from the European Court of Justice after Brussels began legal action against Warsaw for changes to the Polish Supreme Court which “undermine the principle of judicial independence”.

The European Commission said yesterday that a new law, due tomorrow, would force 27 out of 72 Supreme Court judges to retire by lowering the retirement age from 70 to 65, which breaks EU rules stopping the removal of judges and the rule of law. The judges can have their mandate extended on application to the president of Poland, which has raised fears of undue political influence over the court.

“We still hope that the Polish authorities will reconsider bringing it [the law] into force. We hope they will change their minds,” Margaritis Schinas, the commission’s chief spokes- man, said in Brussels. “If not, it is going to be up to the European Court of Justice to give its judgment,” he added.

The EU and Poland are already at loggerheads over the reforms, which critics call a ploy to stuff the court with politically appointed puppets. In December, the commission triggered Article 7, a legal process that could strip Poland of its EU voting rights, for the first time in the bloc’s history.