Poland's president on Tuesday signed into law controversial legislation aimed at disciplining judges who question government judicial reforms that the European Union says are out of step with the rule of law.
Poland's human rights commissioner and opposition politicians immediately criticised the move as undermining judicial independence, calling it a first step in the direction of a "Polexit" out of the EU's legal order.
Spokesman Blazej Spychalski told Poland's PAP news agency that President Andrzej Duda had signed the amendment that critics, including Poland's Supreme Court Justice Malgorzata Gersdorf, have dubbed a "muzzle law".
The amendment allows the disciplining of judges "whose public activities are incompatible with the principles of the independence of the courts and the independence of judges."
"Today Poland has taken a huge step towards legal Polexit," tweeted Bodnar, adding that it was "a sad day for Poland, the EU, the rule of law and the legal security of citizens."
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