The deputy Speaker of Poland’s upper house of parliament, Aam Bielan, has said the government may revise rules forcing Polish judges into retirement. He said there is an “idea to prepare a new reform of the law on the Supreme Court”.
Earlier this month, the European Court decision called on Poland to suspend the rules.
As reported by Radio Poland online, Bielan said the court’s decision may have sparked concerns that the Polish government wanted to leave the European Union, which he denied was the case.
He also said that he hoped the date the decision was announced – just ahead of local government elections in Poland – was coincidental because otherwise “one would have to say that one of the most important institutions of the European Union tried to affect the result of the ballot in a member country”.
The Polish reforms, introduced in the summer, saw a retirement age for Supreme Court justices set at 65, forcing a number of judges, including the court’s president, into retirement.
The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, took Poland to court over the reform in July, saying that it undermined “the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges.”
