Polish judicial reforms violate EU law, says court

Bloomberg

Poland’s sweeping judicial overhaul, which includes lowering the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, violates European Union rules, the bloc’s top court said in a stinging rebuke of measures described by government critics as a political “purge.”
The Polish reform “is not justified by a legitimate objective” and “undermines the principle of the irremovability of judges, which is essential to their independence,” the EU Court of Justice said in a binding ruling.
The European Commission challenged a controversial Polish law that lowers the retirement age for justices, which could force out nearly two-fifths of the top court seen by opponents an attack on the rule of law.
Poland has already been forced to suspend the measures following an order from the EU court in December.
The decision has a largely symbolic significance, as Poland’s government has already backtracked on the contested legislation ahead of the announcement.
Nevertheless, it shows that the EU has jurisdiction over how member nations revamp their justice systems, in the face of claims from Polish officials who have called on Brussels to stay out of what it called domestic politics.
The ruling isn’t a “defeat” for the government, said ruling party Senator Aleksander Bobko. “We have already modified these rules and we proved that we can correct our course while being determined” to overhaul the courts, he told reporters in Warsaw.
The Brussels-based commission called the decision a “a welcome clarification” of the principles concerning the independence of judges.
It said it stands ready to support the government in applying the judgment and “to continue discussions on the resolution of all other outstanding issues related to the rule of law in Poland.”