Poland Reverses Supreme Court Purge, Retreating From Conflict With E.U.
Source: New York Times
By Joanna Berendt and Marc Santora
Dec. 17, 2018
WARSAW — Backing down from a showdown with Brussels, Poland’s government reversed its purge of the country’s Supreme Court, as the president signed a law on Monday that will reinstate the judges who had been forced out of their jobs.
It was a remarkable turnaround after months of Poland’s top officials saying they would resist pressure to stop the overhaul of the judiciary. The ruling party, Law and Justice, had put tightening its grip on the courts at the center of its agenda, claiming that it was vital to rid the courts of corrupt judges and Communist-era vestiges.
The European Union sees the changes Poland has made to its judiciary in the last three years as a violation of the bloc’s core values, a threat to the rule of law and the end of judges acting as a check on political power. Last year, the union chastised Poland and took the first steps toward stripping the country of its voting rights in Brussels — a penalty that has never been used against a member nation.
Poland’s concession on the Supreme Court is by no means the end of that conflict between the right-wing, nationalist Polish government and Brussels, but it represented a striking change in tone.
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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/world/europe/poland-supreme-court.html
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS DECEMBER 17, 2018 / 11:51 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
EU court orders Poland to suspend judicial overhaul law
LUXEMBOURG/WARSAW (Reuters) - The European Union’s top court ruled on Monday that Poland must immediately suspend a law that forced some Supreme Court judges to retire, drawing a line under a dispute between Warsaw and Brussels.
Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party had already agreed to scrap the law that lowered the judges’ retirement age, after the European Court of Justice issued an interim judgment against the legislation in October. Monday’s order made the court decision final.
The eurosceptic and nationalist PiS initially pushed through a range of new powers after coming to power in 2015 that rights groups and EU officials said threatened the rule of law and increased the government’s control over Polish courts.
PiS originally argued the changes were needed to improve the efficiency of the courts and rid the country of a residue of Communism.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-eu-court/eu-court-orders-poland-to-suspend-judicial-overhaul-law-idUSKBN1OG1WD
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