Europe's Court of Justice on Tuesday slammed a controversial Hungarian law forcing judges to retire at 62 instead of 70, a move seen by the opposition as tightening the government's grip on the judiciary.
In a statement, the court said Hungary's "abrupt and radical" decision to lower retirement by eight years within a year, thus removing some 200 judges - or 10 percent of their number - was incompatible with European Union law.
The EU's executive had referred the issue to the court in April on the grounds of "age-related discrimination".
"The court's judgement is crystal clear," said the bloc's justice commissioner Viviane Reding. "Hungary's forced early retirement of hundreds of judges, prosecutors and notaries was against EU law."