Halt moves to retire judges, EU tells Poland

THE European Court of Justice yesterday ordered the Polish government to suspend a controversial overhaul of the country’s supreme court in a move that puts further pressure on the strained ties between Brussels and Warsaw.

The court demanded that Poland reinstates its judges who were removed by a law introducing compulsory retirement for those aged 65 or over.

The law was seen as an attack on the independence of the judicial system, with new judges being appointed by the government.

A failure to comply with the European Union’s demands could result in fines against Poland. Yesterday’s decision, which is only an interim measure pending a formal ruling, is likely to worsen a long-running feud between the EU and Poland over judicial reform that triggered widespread protests in Warsaw.

Last year, for the first time, the EU initiated Article 7 proceedings against Poland over concerns about the state of the rule of law, which could result in the country losing its voting rights.

Reacting to the move, Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, said: “We will see what EU institutions propose and then we’ll take them into consideration and analyse our options.”

In the past, the government has indicated that Warsaw will abide by the decisions of the EU, but the shake-up of the supreme court is a flagship project of Law and Justice, the ruling party.

It argued it was necessary to weed out judges with links to the Communist past and to improve court efficiency.

Malgorzata Gersdorf, the head of the supreme court and one of the judges in line for retirement, welcomed the decision by the European court.

“I’m pleased that someone has taken our case into account,” she said. “I am only disappointed that the government of my country did not do this earlier and that we had to go to the EU court.”