Poland's supreme court constitutional crisis approaches a standoff
Source: The Guardian
The president of Polands supreme court fears she may be prevented from entering her place of work later this week, she told the Guardian, as a long-running standoff between the Polish government and the countrys judiciary threatens to reach a dramatic climax.
Earlier this year, the Polish parliament introduced a mandatory retirement age of 65 for supreme court judges, which would result in the instant dismissal of 27 of the 74 judges currently serving in the court. Because the new law envisages expanding the court to 120 judges, this would give the government the power to appoint almost two-thirds of supreme court judges from scratch.
The retirements are due to come into effect on Tuesday, but last week a general assembly of supreme court judges issued resolutions stating that the dismissals contravened constitutional guarantees of judicial independence and explicit provisions in the constitution guaranteeing the term of office of Małgorzata Gersdorf, the supreme court president. The resolutions stated that Gersdorf and all of the supreme court judges threatened with forcible retirement would continue to serve out their terms as normal.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/02/polands-supreme-court-constitutional-crisis-comes-to-a-head
You know, many had great hopes for this country during and immediately after the Solidarity era. What the heck happened? I wouldn't doubt that Putin and lackeys are behind some if not all of the anti-democracy crap here and with other American allies. Seems to me a real big mess we have to clean-up at home and abroad.