Move over Brexit, the European Union has a new problem child. Andrzej Rzepliński, former president of Poland’s highest constitutional court, said last year that Poland was “on the road to autocracy”; this week saw them put their foot on the accelerator.

Poland's lower chamber of parliament approved a bill handing the government power to potentially replace every judge on the Supreme Court – the only branch of government currently beyond the ruling Law and Justice Party’s (PiS) control. The Supreme Court has the power to invalidate election results, it can block political parties from receiving state funding and it functions as the final court of appeal for all criminal and civil cases.