2018-10-22 19:33 update: 2018-10-23, 13:51
Photo PAP/Jacek Turczyk
Małgorzata Gersdorf, who continues to act as Poland's Supreme Court (SN) president in defiance of the new laws that have forced her into early retirement, has asked 23 recently-retired SN judges to return to work, SN spokesman Michał Laskowski said on Monday.
The new SN legislation that took effect in April sets the retirement age of SN judges at 65, unless the head of state allows them to continue. Several judges duly retired shortly afterwards, while Justice Gersdorf, who also turned 65, maintains, together with the entire SN, that under the constitution she remains in charge of the court until 2020.
Media and NGOs reported on Friday that the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) has approved the European Commission's (EC) motion to apply temporary measures and suspend application of the provision of Poland's Supreme Court laws. Later in the day, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed that such information had been received from the CJEU.
Laskowski said on Monday that Gersdorf's decision concerned 23 judges, including herself, and that some judges had already returned to work.
The spokesman also said Gersdorf was going to send a report on her actions to the European Commission (EC), the EU's executive arm, in line with the CJEU's requirements.
Also on Monday, the EC, which had motioned for such measures to be imposed on Poland, said that the CJEU decision was in line with the Commission's opinion.
The EC's spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, said that the EC was ready to continue dialogue with Poland. He stressed that the CJEU had supported the EC's view that the new Polish law is incompatible with the EU law as it undermines the principles of judicial independence. (PAP)
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