The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) informed on Thursday that it will hand down the ruling regarding the complaint the European Commission filed against Poland over the changes made to Polish Supreme Court. The reform resulted in some of the justices being forced to retire, including the head of Poland's top court, Chief Justice Małgorzata Gersdorf.
On April 11, the ECJ's Advocate General issued a non-binding opinion stating that provisions lowering the retirement age of Polish Supreme Court judges were against the EU law.
Judges at the Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe's top court, follow the advice of their advocate generals in the majority of cases although they are not bound to do so.
Earlier on, the ECJ approved of the EU Commission's motion to suspend application of the said provisions and to return the affected justices back to the court. Polish government changed the law accordingly and demanded the case to be dropped.
Some media outlets published unofficial information that the ECJ's verdict might have been announced right before the European elections, which stirred criticism from Poland's ruling Law and Justice party.
Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party pushed through a range of powers after coming to power in 2015 that rights groups and EU officials said threatened the rule of law and increased the government's control over Polish courts.
The PiS originally argued the changes were needed to improve the efficiency of the courts and rid the country of a residue of Communism.
However, a final judgement is still pending.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP