(ANSA) - WARSAW, JUL 15 - Poland's Constitutional Court defied the European Union on Wednesday with a ruling that government critics said puts a question mark over the country's future membership of the bloc. The court ruled that any interim measures issued by the EU Court of Justice against Poland's controversial judicial reforms were "not in line" with the Polish constitution.

"We are in the process of a legal Polexit which is taking place step by step," Poland's independent human rights ombudsman Adam Bodnar told reporters after the ruling. Former EU chief Donald Tusk, head of the opposition Civic Platform party, accused the governing right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party of "leaving the EU". "Only we Poles can successfully oppose this," he tweeted. But Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro hailed the ruling, saying it was "against interference, usurpation and legal aggression by organs of the European Union". The ruling came after the EU court earlier on Wednesday issued an interim order for Poland to immediately suspend the activities of the "disciplinary chamber" of the Supreme Court -- a newly established institution set up as part of the reforms. (ANSA).