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Constitutional Tribunal rules on judges

The appointments would replace recent appointments made by Civic Platform before it lost power.

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In the debate, Law and Justice said the October appointments were made in violation of the law and were unconstitutional, while Civic Platform insisted that the new appointments will be a threat to democracy and to the constitution.

The ruling came only hours after President Andrzej Duda confirmed four new judges for the country’s special court.

Duda had earlier refused to swear in the judges chosen by the previous government led by the liberal Civic Platform (PO) party that is now in opposition.

In a televised address later Thursday, Duda defended his move, saying it restored legal order that was disturbed by a “faulty” choice of judges under Civic Platform which, he said, wanted to make the court “unilaterally political”.

Another crowd gathered Thursday outside the Constitutional Court, which is due to rule later in the day on the constitutionality of legislation introduced by the previous government in June to appoint its own judges.

Back in power, Law and Justice is now acting quickly to place its supporters on the Constitutional Tribunal, seeking to neutralize it before proceeding to reshape this Central European nation of almost 38 million people in line with its nationalistic and Catholic worldview.

Both parties appear to have bent the rules in their eagerness to get their appointees into the 15-member Constitutional Tribunal, sparking a major political row in Poland.

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Law and Justice backers and opponents with national white-and-red flags held two separate noisy rallies before the parliament.

Poles see risks to 26-year democracy from ruling party