Former supreme court justices

Judges applying to join Poland's Supreme Court should have the right to appeal against the opinions of a body which reviews candidates, the European Union's top court ruled on Tuesday. Tuesday’s verdict by the Court of Justice of the European Union said the final decision in such cases rested with a Polish court. The ruling underlines the ongoing rift between the EU institutions and the Polish government over rule of law. But critics say the way judges are appointed has become a tool to politicize the judiciary. Poland is in a long-running row with the EU over reforms that the bloc says hurt court independence by increasing political control over judges. The nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) says the reforms are necessary to make courts more efficient. What did the court say? The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Poland's legal reforms could violate EU law, in that they remove the possibility of judicial review in the Supreme Court nomination process. … [Read more...] about EU top court rules Polish judges can appeal nominations

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said Tuesday that voting during the upcoming Senate elections on March 3 would be held as “per past practice”. The ECP, in a  statement, shared minutes of its meeting that took place after the Supreme Court’s opinion on the presidential reference seeking the Senate polls through an open ballot. Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja chaired an ECP meeting on Tuesday, while the commission's members Justice (retd) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi, Justice (retd) lrshad Qasir, Shah Muhammad Jatoi, and Nisar Ahmed Durrani attended it. The ECP decided that due to time constraints, the Senate election scheduled for March 3 will be conducted as provided in the Constitution and law as per past practice. “The commission deliberated on the order/opinion of the Supreme Court passed today in Presidential Reference No. 1/2020 and decided to implement it in letter and spirit,” ECP's statement read. It added that the commission is taking … [Read more...] about ‘Past practice’ to be followed in Senate elections, says ECP

MANILA, Philippines — Opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan has called for the relief of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. for his recent remarks against an INQUIRER.net reporter. Pangilinan said on Thursday Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzna must also “show Parlade the door” after the latter’s tirades against reporter Tetch Torres-Tupas, over her story on Aetas who supposedly endured torture from the military, and who filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC). According to the senator, Parlade must suffer the same fate as AFP deputy chief of staff for intelligence Maj. Gen. Alex Luna, who was relieved after blunders on list of supposed former University of the Philippines (UP) students who joined the communist armed movement. “Enough of this unprofessionalism and lack of discipline with such baseless, erroneous public statements. Like AFP Intel Chief Luna, Lorenzana should show Parlade the door,” Pangilinan said … [Read more...] about Pangilinan wants Parlade fired after remarks vs INQUIRER.net reporter

Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. MANILA, Philippines — Several media organizations and other groups have denounced Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. for his comments against INQUIRER.net reporter Tetch Torres-Tupas over her story on Aetas who filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC). The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said in a Facebook post on Thursday that Parlade’s remarks about Torres-Tupas’ story on the Aetas’ claim of torture under the hands of the military — that she may be sued for aiding terrorists — attests to the dangers of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 Torres-Tupas’ story, entitled “Tortured Aetas seek SC help against anti-terror law,” was a story on the Aetas’ petition that the Anti-Terrorism Act be declared unconstitutional, which was filed as SC heard oral arguments of those against the said law. “Torres-Tupas was simply writing about the fact that the petition was filed and … [Read more...] about Media orgs, groups blast Parlade for threat vs INQUIRER.net reporter