Poland’s judges boycott Supreme Court posts

canada goose outlet canada goose uk black friday shop WARSAW A seat uk canada goose on the Supreme Court is a dream job for any judge, and right now Poland is giving them away by the dozen. canada goose outlet shop

canada https://www.canadagoosejacketsoutsale.com goose outlet toronto factory This summer, the country is seeking to fill 44 vacancies, with more expected in coming months. The positions come with prestige, canada goose power and uk canada goose outlet chambers in Canada Goose Coats On Sale the court building,a modern Warsaw take on a Greek classic that sits adjacent to a memorial to the city’s doomed anti Nazi uprising. canada goose outlet toronto factory

canada goose outlet store What the jobs don’t have is many takers. In a land of some 10,000 judges, judicial applications barely exceed the number of openings. canada Canada Goose online goose outlet store

canada goose outlet reviews The lack of interest reflects canada goose clearance canada goose outlet the nearly unanimous opposition of Poland’s black robed jurists to what they see as an attempted hostile takeover of the judiciary by the ruling party. Critics say that the process, which Canada Goose Online has beenunderway for three years, is culminating with a bid to pack the country’s highest court with cronies and opportunists. canada goose outlet reviews

[Poland’s in crisis again. Here’s what you should know about the far right’s latest power grab.]

canada goose outlet canada Rather than seek the Supreme Court posts, the vast majority of judges are boycotting them. canada buy canada goose jacket cheap goose outlet canada

official canada goose outlet They canadian goose jacket don’t expect to stop the appointments. But theywant no part of a developmentthey arguewill mark the death of the independent court systemnearly three decades after the fall of communism. official canada goose outlet

canada goose outlet store uk „The selection of new judges will be a pure fiction,” said Dariusz Zawistowski, chief justice in the Supreme Canada Goose Parka Court’s civil division. „And with it, this institution will become completely politicized. The inheritance of 1989 what we were most proud of will be gone.” canada goose outlet store uk

The takeover has the potential to dramatically reshape Poland, a nation of 39million that is the largest ofthe Central European countries once locked behind the Iron Curtain.

canada goose outlet uk sale Until recently, it was also one of the most successful, having navigated a transition to Western style democracy after the Soviet Union unraveled. canada goose outlet uk sale

canada goose outlet black friday But as with other countries in the region, most notably Hungary, Poland has turned toward autocracy in recent years. canada goose outlet black friday

canada goose black friday sale The right wing Law and Justice party has changed canada goose uk outlet Poland in other ways, transforming the media landscape and introducing a new school curriculum. But the judicial changes have been the most far reaching. canada goose black friday sale

canada goose outlet parka With a pliant Supreme Court, critics say, Law and Justice will have a free hand to govern Poland in the manner of the old Communist Party: potentially rigging national elections due next year, punishing opponents and acting without fear of judicial restraint. canada goose outlet canada goose uk shop parka

„They’ll be able to reorganize the entire country,” Canada Goose Outlet said Igor Tuleya, a Warsaw based district court judge and outspoken defender of judicial independence. „One party will be running Poland until the end of the world.”

Perhaps the largest remaining obstacle in Law and Justice’s path is the European Union. body the European Court of Justice. Itasked the European court to intervene against legal changes that could force dozens of judges, including thechief justice, into early retirement. values. voting rights.

canada goose outlet jackets But the slow moving wheels of Brussels based bureaucracy mean it could take months, even years, for Europe to act. Poland is forging ahead with its Supreme Court overhaul plans in the coming weeks. canada cheap Canada Goose goose outlet jackets

canada goose jacket outlet „It’s the ultimate example of court packing,” said Marcin Matczak, a law professor at the University of Warsaw. „And they want to do it before the [European Court of Justice] can say anything about it.” canada goose jacket outlet

canada goose outlet sale Even if Canada Goose Jackets Europe’s top court does act, leading Polish officials have suggested they may canada goose factory sale resist. canada goose outlet sale

„Every country has a right to set up its own legal values with its own traditions,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told European lawmakerslast month.

canada goose outlet online uk As the party’s name would suggest, Law and Justice has taken a keen interest in the workings of the Polish judiciary. canada goose outlet online uk

People walk near the cheap canada goose uk Supreme Court building in Warsaw. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

canada goose outlet nyc Since coming to power, the party first reshaped the Constitutional Tribunal, which sits alongside the Supreme Court at the top of Poland’s judicial hierarchy. Then it overhauled the National Council of the Judiciary, which was set Canada Goose sale up to safeguard judicial independence. canada goose outlet nyc

canada goose outlet In both cases, the government gave politicians ultimate control buy canada goose jacket and packed the panels with sympathetic judges. Now, critics assert, it is pursuing its ultimate aim: control of the Supreme Court. canada goose outlet

The government has defended its moves as the necessary reform of a system that is beset by inefficiency and, most important, still carries remnants of the pre 1989 regime. Loweringthe retirement age from 70 to 65, officials have said, will help push out holdovers from the communist era.

But critics don’t buy it. Poland long ago put its judges through a strict screening process that eliminated those deemed to have been especially acquiescent to state control.