WARSAW, Poland (AP) - The Latest on Polish judicial reforms (all times local):
4 p.m.
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok has urged that a solution be found to Poland’s dispute with European Union leaders over the government’s sweeping changes to the judiciary.
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz hosted Blok Wednesday for talks on European Union matters including questions over Poland’s rule of law under the conservative government.
EU leaders say that recent changes to Poland’s judiciary put judges under political control.
Blok said Poland has a big role in the building of European cooperation based on common rules. He urged a solution to the controversy and a stop to Poland’s drawn-out discussions with EU leaders.
On Wednesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda appointed new judges to the Supreme Court, ignoring rulings that have suspended appointments pending a procedure before the European Court of Justice.
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12:05 p.m.
Poland’s president has sworn in new Supreme Court judges, stepping up the conflict over control of the judiciary and ignoring another top court that said the appointments should be suspended pending an opinion by European Union judges.
A spokesman for President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday that 27 judges took the oath to serve on the Supreme Court.
It is part of changes made to the judiciary by the ruling conservative party, which says that judges active during the communist era must be replaced.
Many of the court’s judges have been forced to retire, but argue that the move was unconstitutional.
The court is seeking the opinion of the EU’s Court of Justice and, backed by the Supreme Administrative Court, has suspended the nomination of new judges. Duda ignored that, however.
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