People take part in a street demonstration to show solidarity with Polish judges facing increased political pressure from the country’s right-wing government in Warsaw on Dec. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
(CN) — European magistrates on Thursday waded into contentious battles over judicial independence in Poland and Malta and legal challenges to the way judges are appointed in those countries, where critics say the rule of law has been eroded.
In the case of Poland, Advocate General Evgeni Tanchev, an adviser for the European Court of Justice, said European courts have a right to get involved in a dispute over judicial appointments to the Polish Supreme Court. His findings came in the case involving five Polish judges who say they were unlawfully denied a chance to challenge a move to not appoint them to the high court.