AFP/File | Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, pictured here in 2007, warned constitutional court Chief Justice Andrzej Rzeplinski and other judges on its bench against “operating outside the constitutional and legal framework”
WARSAW: A battle between Poland’s right-wing government and the EU member’s top court escalated Wednesday, amid a four-month-long constitutional crisis that observers allege has put democracy at risk.
Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro warned constitutional court Chief Justice Andrzej Rzeplinski and other judges on its bench against “operating outside the constitutional and legal framework”.
Rzeplinski revealed that a letter he received from Ziobro also “threatened punitive measures against disobedient judges”.
The Law and Justice (PiS) government plunged Poland into political crisis in December when it pushed through legislation to pack the top court and modify its decision-making rules.
But last month the court itself struck down the changes as unconstitutional, pitting it against the PiS majority government, which promptly dismissed the ruling.
The resulting deadlock means the court is paralysed, leaving Poland without a fundamental check on government powers.
The PiS government’s intransigence on the issue sparked protests across Poland, with tens of thousands of citizens demanding it respect the court ruling.
Ziobro’s letter drew sharp criticism from the opposition.
“Not only do we now have two legal systems, but above all a minister who is telling judges he will punish them if they’re disobedient,” Ryszard Petru, leader of the liberal Modern party, told reporters.
The escalation of the crisis came just a day after the European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans urged the PiS government to respect the court rulings as the first step in defusing the crisis that triggered an unprecedented probe by Brussels.
Timmermans also said he was upbeat about the possibility of resolving the crisis “without the European Commission having to take any next steps”, including possible punitive measures.
The European Union launched a probe in January to see whether PiS changes to the court violate EU democracy rules and merit the punitive measures.
Council of Europe chief Thorbjorn Jagland insisted earlier this week that “it is very urgent to get the constitutional court to function.
“For the time being it is paralysed, which means that we do not have in place a system here that is really rule of law.”
His words echo a March report by legal experts from the Council’s respected Venice Commission rights watchdog. -AFP