Poland has been on the turn since last weekend, close to 30 years after it jettisoned Communism. Indeed, the trend has prompted the generation that has grown up in a democratic framework to argue that while “Europe stands for democracy, where does Poland stand?”

Parliament has made the judiciary subordinate to the executive, and Saturday’s decision to give the government in Warsaw de facto control over the Supreme Court has almost immediately caused a flutter in the European Union roost. The legislation, above all compromises with judicial independence and renders the rule of law vulnerable to political interference.

The change has undermined the post Communist democratic institutions, it flies in the face of democratic certitudes, and is an act of defiance of the EU, which has been consistently opposed to such “reform”.

The subordination of the judiciary has swiftly been greeted with robust demonstrations on the streets of Warsaw. The new law, proposed by the ruling rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS), empowers ministers to appoint judges and members of Poland’s Supreme Court. All the 83 judges face the prospect of dismissal unless they are retained by the Justice minister.

The Bill has been approved by a convincing majority ~ 235 to 192 votes. In the net, the government has ensured that the judiciary plays second fiddle to the country’s Cabinet. It would be presumptuous to claim that the change will expedite judgments and break the grip on the legal system of a “privileged caste” of lawyers and judges.

If the reaction across the Continent is any indication, Europe does expect President Andrzej Duda, who will have to sign the legislation into law, to have second thoughts.

Ever since it assumed power in 2015 after defeating the Civic Platform government, the PiS has posed problems for both Poland and Europe in the wider canvas. Not that it had a whopping margin of victory; it had won barely 37.6 per cent of the vote.

Nonetheless, over the past two years the PiS has betrayed a narrow nationalistic, ideological and cultural outlook. Ergo, current misgivings over a revival of nationalism are not wholly unfounded. Indeed, the PiS has been pursuing an agenda of what has been described as “systematic anti-liberalism”. Of course, an elected government has the prerogative to frame and implement its policies.

However, it cannot arrogate to itself the right to dismantle or neutralise the institutions that allow an informed public to make a free choice. The party has signalled its intent to dispense with the praxis of checks and balances on the executive.

The party and government are now omnipotent, and the judiciary will have to abide by its wishes. Poland is likely to pay a price for its defiance of EU.