WARSAW: Poland's Constitutional Tribunal ruled Wednesday that many new rules regulating its own function introduced by the new government are unconstitutional. The country's top legislative court weighed in on a legal crisis that has upended politics in Poland and brought sharp condemnation from European and US authorities. However, it's not clear what effect the ruling will have because the government of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has indicated that it will not treat the court's judgment as valid. The court ruled that many of the laws passed late last year that fundamentally change how the 15-judge court functions breach Poland's constitution. One is a rule that the court should take up cases in the order in which they are brought to the court. Another requires a two-thirds majority to support a ruling for it to be valid, a change from the simple majority of the past. Another contested change requires a quorum of 13 judges for rulings to be valid. Critics say the changes have paralyzed the court, effectively preventing it from acting as a check on the power of the ruling, conservative Law and Justice party, which has greater control over the country than any party in Poland's 27 years of democracy. Both the European Union and the Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog, have expressed deep concerns about the state of Poland's rule of law due to the changes to the constitutional tribunal, as well as several other measures including greater government control over state broadcast media. The Venice Commission, an expert body within the Council of Europe, is expected to publish an assessment of the constitutional crisis on Friday. A leaked draft of the report said the constitutional changes threaten the rule of law, democracy and human rights in Poland. Ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says the country will not abide by the commission's ruling, which isn't binding, insisting that Poland is a sovereign nation that will decide its own affairs.