EU court rules Polish judicial reform illegal in worsening standoff

The European Union's top court ruled on Thursday that Poland's system fordisciplining judges undercuts the bloc's laws, part of anescalating battle over democratic rules that risks Warsaw

The European Union's top court ruled on Thursday that Poland's system fordisciplining judges undercuts the bloc's laws, part of anescalating battle over democratic rules that risks Warsaw losingsome of its key development funding. Poland's ruling nationalists set up a disciplinary chamberat the Supreme Court in a sweeping overhaul of the judiciaryalready condemned by the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) inLuxembourg and the bloc's Brussels-based executive, which actsas the guardian of laws across the 27 member states. Reinforcing that, the ECJ ruled that the chamber "does notprovide all the guarantees of impartiality and independence,and, in particular, is not protected from the direct or indirectinfluence of the Polish legislature and executive".