Małgorzata Gersdorf
Małgorzata Gersdorf | |
---|---|
First President of the Supreme Court of Poland | |
Assumed office 30 April 2014 | |
Nominated by | Bronislaw Komorowski |
Preceded by | Lech Krzysztof Paprzycki |
Personal details | |
Born | Warsaw, Poland | 22 November 1952
Spouse | Bohdan Zdziennicki |
Alma mater | University of Warsaw |
Małgorzata Maria Gersdorf (Polish: [mawgɔ'ʐata 'gɛrsdɔrf]; born 22 November 1952) is a Polish lawyer and judge who currently serves as the First President of the Supreme Court of Poland, a position she has held since 2014. She graduated from the University of Warsaw with a law degree in 1975, and obtained a doctorate degree in 1981. She became a professor for the University of Warsaw in 1992, served as Vice-Rector of the University in 2005, and became head of the Law Department in 2008.[1]
Politically, Gersdorf was part of the Solidarity movement in the 1980s, and worked in the Supreme Court Office of Jurisprudence and the Office of Supreme Court Analysis in the 1990s. In 1989, after the new post-communist government took over, she was appointed to the Social Conciliation Commission, which helped to get political prisoners back in the workforce.[1] She served as a legal advisor to the Supreme Court, and in 2008 was nominated to be a Judge. She served in that role for six years when she was nominated to be the First President of the Supreme Court, succeeding Stanisław Dąbrowski, who had died earlier in 2014, and Lech Krzysztof Paprzycki, who was an acting First President.[2]
After becoming First President of the Supreme Court, in 2017 the Law and Justice party had planned to change the court's structure, including the party nominating its own justices rather than having judges nominate them. In an open letter to colleagues, Gersdorf spoke out against this push, stating that "the courts are easily turned into a plaything in the hands of politicians" and urging fellow judges to preserve the independence of the judiciary.[3] The law was later passed in both legislative chambers but was vetoed by President Andrzej Duda.
The Law and Justice party continued to seek significant changes to the court's system; one measure was to enact mandatory retirement starting on 4 July 2018, which would force Gersdorf and 26 other judges out of the 72 judges in the court to retire, despite the court having previously voting in favor to allow justices to continue to run until the end of their term. Gersdorf and several of her colleagues are fighting this measure.[4] Backed by public protests, Gersdorf has continued to show up for work, saying that the government is attempting "a purge of the Supreme Court conducted under the guise of retirement reform" and noting that under the Constitution of Poland, her term continues through 2020.[5] The European Commission filed an infringement procedure against the Polish government, stating that the law undermines judicial independence and therefore was a breach of the Treaty on European Union and Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which protect the rule of law.[6]
References
- ^ a b "Nota biograficzna - prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Gersdorf, Pierwszy Prezes Sądu Najwyższego". sn.pl. 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017. Template:Pl icon
- ^ "Małgorzata Gersdorf: Pierwsza kobieta Pierwszą Prezes Sądu Najwyższego". newsweek.pl. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2017. Template:Pl icon
- ^ Davies, Christian (26 February 2017). "Polish judges urged to 'fight every inch' for their independence". the guardian.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ Santora, Marc (3 July 2018). "Amid Growing Uproar, Poland to Remove 27 Supreme Court Justices". New York Times.
- ^ Poland's top judge Gersdorf defies retirement law, BBC News (July 4, 2018).
- ^ Rule of Law: Commission launches infringement procedure to protect the independence of the Polish Supreme Court, European Commission, Brussels, 2 July 2018.
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