Officials from the governing party say they are simply overhauling a corrupt system that obstructs the will of the people. But critics, both in Poland and abroad, contend they are creating a system where the courts will be subservient to politicians, who then will be able to change the constitution through judicial rulings.

In his zeal to create what he calls a Fourth Republic, free of any vestiges of the days of Communist rule and vest the state with ever greater power, the party’s leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski has set the nation on a collision course with the European Union, which views the changes as a threat to the rule of law and the Western values at the heart of the treaty binding the bloc of nations together.

The European Union’s failure to curb Hungary’s drift toward authoritarianism has already emboldened other leaders in the region, where right-wing nationalism and populism are on the rise. If Poland is not made to pay a high price for its actions, critics and outside legal experts worry, currents unraveling democracy in member states will be further strengthened.

It is far from clear how much more the bloc can do. For the first time in its history, it has gone to the so-called nuclear option, invoking Article 7 of its founding treaty. Poland could lose its voting rights, although that would require a unanimous vote by all 28 member nations — a highly unlikely result, considering Poland’s strong backing from other East European nations.

Still, European officials announced on Monday that an infringement procedure had been started against Poland, which could result in the case being referred to the European Court of Justice. For opponents of the judicial overhauls, the European court is their last, best hope to force the government to change course.