"Judges do not command an army; a judge will always fall against power; I will be the First Supreme Court President in exile," said Małgorzata Gersdorf on Friday in Germany.
Unacceptable standards
Gersdorf came to Karlsruhe to give a lecture entitled "Rule of law in Poland - lost opportunities?". Earlier on in this German town she took part in a press conference.
She was asked, among other things, for her comment on the latest amendment to the Supreme Court law passed by Polish parliament on Friday. The new regulations change the procedure of appointing the Supreme Court’s president and its other judges.
Judge Gersdorf said that it was obvious that the parliament would pass the changes. She added that the Friday’s Sejm session was held "in standards unacceptable in European judicial circles."
She pointed out that the changes are meant to rapidly replace judges. In her opinion, the introduced changes are flawed because the older the judge, the wiser he is.
"What will happen if a second court’s president appears? Judges do not command an army. A judge will always fall against power. At the moment, we have an acting court’s chief whom I have picked. The President says it was him who made the pick. A new head of the court won’t be appointed sooner, despite the attempts," said judge Gersdorf.
In exile
"I will be the First Supreme Court President in exile," she said. Asked whether she is planning to back down, she replied: "I don’t have any room left to step back. I’m up against a wall."
"I can only last in my conviction that I’m still Supreme Court’s President, but it’s impossible for a judge, and also a woman considered too old by the government, to stand against all adversities," she said.
In her opinion, President Andrzej Duda struggled to find her replacement among the Supreme Court judges. That is why he found himself in a pickle because, as she said, he wasn’t expecting not to be able to find a suitable person. That forced him to make a "hasty recruitment".
As she pointed out, there are mainly district judges in the new National Council of the Judiciary, who will be assessing candidates for the Supreme Court and recommend their picks to the President.
"The Supreme Court will be joined by certain people completely unknown to the Court’s judges. Maybe these people will turn out to be competent, but maybe not. We just don’t know," said judge Gersdorf.
"Gravest concerns"
"Removing of judge Małgorzata Gersdorf is a temporary and dramatic climax of the plot that can be characterized as a catastophy," the head of German Federal Court of Justice, Bettina Limperg told the German Press Agency. She added that "the situation in Poland raises her gravest concerns".
"It is my standpoint that Małgorzata Gersdorf has been removed from office illegally," she said and expressed hope that judge Gersdorf will be present at the conference of the EU supreme court's chiefs in Karlsruhe in September.
The latest effective law has forced all the Supreme Court judges aged 65 or older into retirement. The judges may, however, express their will to remain at the Court and submit medical results to the President who then may allow them to stay in office. Małgorzata Gersdorf is over 65 but didn't make such statement.
Judge Gersdorf, appointed as Supreme Court's President in 2014, has repeated on many occasions that, in line with the Constitution, the tenure of the Court's head lasts six years.
I've been rightfully appointed chief justice; according to the Constitution, my tenure expires on 30 April 2020 and cannot be shortened by any new legislation, wrote judge Gersdorf in a letter to President Andrzej Duda.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, PAP, Polish Supreme Court
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24