Politics
22:53, 29-Jul-2017
EU launches legal action against Poland over judiciary reforms
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The European Commission launched legal action on Saturday against what it sees as attempts by the Polish government to undermine the independence of judges, and gave Warsaw a month to respond.
EU commissioners decided to launch the "infringement procedure" for violating European Union law at a meeting on Wednesday, the first step in a legal process that may end at the bloc's top court, pending publication of Poland's new law.
The Commission is concerned about discretionary power given to Poland's minister of justice to prolong the mandates of judges who reach retirement age, as well as to dismiss and appoint court presidents.
"The new rules allow the minister of justice to exert influence on individual ordinary judges through, in particular, the vague criteria for the prolongation of their mandates thereby undermining the principle of irremovability of judges," the European Commission said in a statement on Saturday.
(Source: Reuters)