Thousands of people took to the streets around Poland on July 3 to demonstrate against a controversial new law that lowers the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 70 to 65, forcing out 40 percent of sitting judges.Chief Justice Małgorzata Gersdorf, Poland’s top Supreme Court judge, spoke at a demonstration in Warsaw saying: “It is a sad day. It ends an epoch of the judiciary and the Supreme Court and their organisational independence and competence.”Gersdorf, along with her colleagues on the court, stated that they would all reject the new measure and would return to work on July 4, despite the new law coming into effect.The new law also envisaged an increase in the number of judges from 74 to 120, giving the government, and the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), the power to appoint over two-thirds of Supreme Court judges.On July 2, the European Commission formally launched proceedings against Poland’s planned legislative changes. Credit: Anita Fogler via Storyful