(Bloomberg) -- Polish Supreme Court Chief Malgorzata Gersdorf said she won't accept being forced into retirement.
A new law forces two-fifths of the top court's justices into retirement by July 3 unless they get special permission from President Andrzej Duda. Gersdorf has said she wouldn't apply for an exception as the constitution gives the lead judge six years in office.
“I consider myself Supreme Court president until 2020,” Gersdorf told private broadcaster TVN24 in an interview. She was invited to Duda's office for 4 p.m. in Warsaw, the TV channel reported, without further details.
On Monday, the EU's executive arm took the first step in a possible lawsuit against Poland. The government of the ruling Law & Justice party says it's seeking to modernize a justice system weighed down by red tape and the influence of what it calls a self-serving “caste” of communist-era judges. Several thousand Poles including ex-President Lech Walesa plan to protest at the court in Warsaw Tuesday evening and on Wednesday morning, according to Obywatele RP, a pro-democracy group that's helping organize the rallies.
To contact the reporter on this story: Piotr Bujnicki in Warsaw at pbujnicki@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Rose at rrose10@bloomberg.net, Balazs Penz, Andras Gergely
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