Head of Poland’s top judicial body claims new rules are unconstitutional, resigns in protest

Poland’s ruling party, the Law and Justice Party (PiS), recently implemented new rules that place judicial selection and retention in the hands of the legislature. The new rules are part of a larger set of deeply controversial set of judicial reforms that have virtually ostracized Poland from the rest of the European Union.

Now the head of the National Council on the Judiciary, Poland’s top judicial body, has resigned his position to protest the new rules, claiming that they violate the country’s constitution and infringe upon judicial independence. It is an important move, albeit a symbolic one, since the PiS has a dominant majority in the legislature and shows no signs of slowing its reform agenda.