Polish President Andrzej Duda nominated a former official from the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government's Justice Ministry as acting head of the Supreme Court on Thursday, to pick a replacement for a vocal critic of PiS who is currently in the post.

Government critics say the retirement of Malgorzata Gersdorf opens the way for PiS to select a new chief who will support the party's judiciary overhaul the European Union has called a subversion of democratic values.

Kamil Zaradkiewicz, 47, will be tasked with convening an assembly of Supreme Court justices in the coming days to nominate five candidates for Duda to select from.

(Cover: Malgorzata Gersdorf attends a news conference on her last day as supreme court president in Warsaw, Poland, April 30, 2020. /Reuters)