Poland braces for protests as judicial reforms kick in

WARSAW: Poland braced for protests on Tuesday against judicial reforms that come into force at midnight despite strong opposition at home and an ongoing row between Warsaw and the European Union.

Through legislation and personnel changes, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has taken de facto control of Poland´s entire judicial system, including prosecutors and the constitutional tribunal.

Its most divisive measure will force more than a third of Supreme Court judges to retire on Wednesday unless granted an extension by President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally. The European Commission opened a fresh legal case against Poland over the Supreme Court changes on Monday, which it says undermine judicial independence in the largest ex-communist member of the bloc.

Poland´s three biggest opposition parties will hold a protest in front of the Supreme Court building in Warsaw from 1900 GMT on Tuesday, they said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Demonstrations "In Defence of the Supreme Court" were expected in other cities, according to organisers Komitet Obrony Demokracji (KOD).

"Today we will be in many Polish towns to show that there is no agreement for a take over of another independent institution," said Borys Budka, a Civic Platform lawmaker said in the statement. More protests are expected on Wednesday when Supreme Court President Malgorzata Gersdorf and some of her colleagues plan to go to work as normal.

"There will be purge conducted in the Supreme Court tomorrow under the pretext of the retrospective change in retirement age," Gersdorf told students in Warsaw at a lecture on Wednesday, according to state-run news agency PAP.

Apart from Gersdorf, Duda also invited another senior Supreme Court judge and Supreme Administrative Court judge to the presidential palace on Tuesday afternoon "to discuss what will happen the moment when the changes take place when it comes to the Supreme Court," state-run news agency PAP quoted Duda as saying. He was expected to announce Gersdorf´s retirement date on Tuesday.

Among those who said they would protest was Lech Walesa, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate credited with bringing down communism. "If in any way the current ruling team attack the Supreme Court, then I´m going to Warsaw. It´s enough to destroy Poland," Walesa said on his Facebook account.

He also said he is ready to "lead a physical removal of the main perpetrator of all misfortune," referring to PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Gersdorf, an outspoken critic of the PiS and its reforms, maintains that under Poland´s constitution she should remain in her post until 2020."I will not accept Mr President´s letter about retiring.

In my opinion I am a president (of the Supreme Court) until 2020," Gersdorf told private television channel TVN24. But Duda dismissed her objections, saying Gersdorf should have taken her concerns to the Constitutional Tribunal. "To my knowledge, neither the Supreme Court president, nor the commissioner for human rights, nor any other entity has taken the opportunity.