Poland Supreme Court Judges Return To Work After EU Court Ruling

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published October 22, 2018 | 09:26 PM

Poland's Supreme Court chief justice asked 23 of the court's judges to return to work on Monday, days after the European Union's top court ordered Poland to "immediately suspend" their retirement under a disputed law.

Warsaw, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Oct, 2018 ) :Poland's Supreme Court chief justice asked 23 of the court's judges to return to work on Monday, days after the European Union's top court ordered Poland to "immediately suspend" their retirement under a disputed law.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, took Poland's government to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for lowering the age at which Supreme Court judges must retire from 70 to 65.

The ECJ ordered a temporary suspension of the retirement law on Friday, saying it threatened judicial independence.

The decision was the latest salvo in a bitter battle over sweeping judicial changes introduced by the rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) government since it took office in 2015.

The changes have also led the EU to trigger unprecedented proceedings against Poland over "systemic threats" to the rule of law that could see the country's EU voting rights suspended.

Supreme Court spokesman Michal Laskowski told reporters in the capital Warsaw on Monday that chief justice Malgorzata Gersdorf requested "23 judges, including herself, who are 65 years" or older to return to work.

"Today some judges arrived for work, others are expected to arrive later today, tomorrow or the day after," Laskowski added.