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Article 37, §§ 1 to 4, of the Law on the Supreme Court provides: ‘§ 1. Judges of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)] shall retire on the day of their 65th birthday, unless they make a statement, no earlier than twelve months and no later than six months before reaching [the age of 65], indicating their desire to continue to perform their duties, and submit a certificate, drawn up under the conditions applicable to candidates applying for a judge’s post, confirming that their state of health allows them to serve, and the President of the Republic of Poland consents to their continuing to perform their duties at the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)]. § 1a. Before giving such consent, the President of the Republic of Poland shall consult the National Council of the Judiciary. The National Council of the Judiciary shall communicate its opinion to the President of the Republic of Poland within 30 days of the date of being requested to do so by the latter. If the National Council of the Judiciary has not communicated its opinion within the period laid down in the second sentence, the opinion shall be deemed to be favourable. § 1b. When providing the opinion referred to in § 1a, the National Council of the Judiciary shall take into account the interest of the judicial system or an important public interest, in particular the rational distribution of members of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)] or the needs arising from the workload of individual chambers of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)]. § 2. The statement and certificate referred to in § 1 shall be submitted to the First President of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)], who shall promptly forward them, together with his opinion, to the President of the Republic of Poland. The First President of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)] shall communicate his statement and his certificate, together with the opinion of the College of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)], to the President of the Republic of Poland. § 3. The President of the Republic of Poland may consent to a judge of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)] continuing to perform his duties within three months of receiving the opinion of the National Council of the Judiciary referred to in § 1a or the expiry of the period within which that opinion must be submitted. Unless consent is provided within the period referred to in the first sentence, the judge shall be deemed to have retired on the day of his 65th birthday. Where a judge of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)] reaches the age referred to in § 1 before the procedure for extending his term of office is completed, he shall remain in his post until that procedure is concluded. § 4. The consent referred to in § 1 shall be granted for a period of three years, which may be renewed once. The provisions of § 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis. Any judge who has been permitted to continue in active service at the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)] may retire at any time following his 65th birthday; he shall submit a statement to that effect to the First President of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)], who shall forward it immediately to the President of the Republic of Poland. The First President of the [Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court)] shall submit his statement directly to the President of the Republic of Poland.’