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World|politics|July 4, 2018 / 10:18 AM
Poland faces turmoil over contested overhaul of Supreme Court

AKIPRESS.COM - Poland faced the specter of institutional turmoil and an escalation of tensions with the European Union on Wednesday, with the head of the Supreme Court refusing to comply with reforms that force her to retire.

The reforms go into effect at midnight. Supreme Court officials said chief judge Malgorzata Gersdorf planned to arrive for work at 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday (0630 GMT) and would be welcomed at the court’s entrance by other judges, Reuters reports.

Warsaw’s conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government says the reform of the Supreme Court requires Gersdorf to end her term, but the judge says the new rules contravene the constitution and cannot be implemented.

“My situation is defined by the constitution ... and that cannot be changed,” she was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency on Tuesday.

Under the new rules, the 65-year-old judge should have asked President Andrzej Duda for an extension of her mandate if she was to be of retirement age on July 4. She has not done so.

“That would mean subordination,” Gersdorf said. “And I cannot agree to this because I need to fulfill what I swore I would.”

Opponents of the reforms planned demonstrations on Wednesday. Among them is Lech Walesa, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former president who is credited with bringing down communism as Solidarity trade union chief. The row is a culmination of a broad overhaul of the judiciary implemented by the nationalist ruling party that has fueled unprecedented tensions between the Polish government and the EU over democratic values.

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