THE EUROPEAN UNION is taking legal action against Poland over the independence of the country’s courts following the governing right-wing Law and Justice Party’s judicial “reforms.”

In a statement yesterday the EU executive commission said: “Today the European Commission decided to refer Poland to the Court of Justice of the EU due to the violations of the principle of judicial independence created by the new Polish Law on the Supreme Court and to ask the Court of Justice to order interim measures until it has issued a judgement on the case.”

Brussels issued a warning over the changes to the judiciary in Poland earlier this year, issuing infringement proceedings and giving the government a deadline of September to adjust the much-criticised reforms.

Under the legislative changes, 27 out of 72 Supreme Court judges were forced to retire as the retirement age was lowered from 70 to 65.

But the law also handed the justice minister the power to prolong the mandate of judges who have reached retirement age and the ability to sack judges.

The statement went on: “The Polish law on the Supreme Court is incompatible with EU law as it undermines the principle of judicial independence.”

Law and Justice has claimed the changes were necessary to improve the judicial system’s efficiency and cleanse it of the alleged influence of the old communist regime.

The EU has also threatened to invoke Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty, whereby Poland could lose some of its rights as a member of the neoliberal bloc as well as face the possibility of sanctions.