Polish judges face off against govt as court protests loom

Bloomberg

Tensions over Poland’s judicial revamp grew a day after a warning shot from the EU.
Supreme Court head Malgorzata Gersdorf said that she won’t be forced to retire under the overhaul, which would replace two-fifths of judges unless they get special permission from President Andrzej Duda. Gersdorf was expected to meet Duda at 4 pm in the capital, with protests that will include ex-President Lech Walesa planned for 9 pm.
The EU says the legislation gives the ruling Law & Justice party too much sway over the courts. Gersdorf calls it a “purge.”
The reform is at the centre of a conflict that’s turned Poland from a poster-child for ex-communist Europe’s transition to democracy to one of the EU’s biggest headaches, risking billions of euros in aid. The European Commission recommended in December that its member states consider disciplining Poland for failing to uphold the bloc’s democratic values, an unprecedented process that risks stripping the country of its voting rights.
Several thousand Poles plan to protest at the court in Warsaw on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, according to Obywatele RP, a pro-democracy civil-society group that’s helping organise the rallies. Solidarity leader Walesa vowed to lead protests on July 4 if the court is “in any way attacked.”
The overhaul will leave Polish courts bearing “a striking resemblance to the institutions which existed in the Soviet Union,” according to a report by the Venice Commission, a democracy watchdog. Gersdorf said Law & Justice was building a “terrifying” system to enshrine single-party rule and “bullying” judges who oppose it.
Law & Justice says the reform is necessary to purge communist-era throwbacks and improve efficiency.
The European Commission’s “justification isn’t right and we’ll prove it before the European Court of Justice,” Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said.
“We’re confident, we’re awaiting the decision.”