The controversial reform has caused an intense and protracted dispute between the Polish government and the European Commission.
Poland’s judicial reform infringes upon European law because it undermines the right to have access to an independent and impartial judiciary, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said in a highly-anticipated ruling.
“The value of the rule of law is an integral part of the very identity of the European Union as a common legal order and is given concrete expression in principles containing legally binding obligations for the member states,” the judges said on Monday afternoon.
“The measures thus adopted by the Polish legislature are incompatible with the guarantees of access to an independent and impartial tribunal. previously established by law.”
The ruling is an unambiguous rejection of the reform introduced in 2019 by the hard-right government of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which sparked an intense dispute between Warsaw and Brussels.
The contentious reform changed the rules that govern the relations between courts, preventing judges from questioning each other’s impartiality and reviewing the legality of their appointments.
It also empowered the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court to punish magistrates according to the content of their verdicts. Possible penalties included a reduction of salary, the temporary suspension of duties and the waiver of immunity to allow the initiation of criminal proceedings.
The chamber has been repeatedly criticised by the European Commission, the United Nations and civil society organisations as a political tool to exert control over the judiciary and weaken the separation of powers.
Warsaw defended the body as a necessary instrument to purge influence from the communist era and crack down on corruption.
The European Court of Justice had previously ruled the chamber was incompatible with EU law and imposed a series of interim measures and ordered its dismantlement.
Poland’s continued refusal to comply with the interim measures led the ECJ to slap a record-breaking €1 million fine per day on the country, which was reduced to €500,000 earlier this year after the disciplinary body was replaced with a “chamber of professional responsibility.”
The fine is being deducted from Poland’s allocation of the EU budget and is supposed to stay in place until the issuance of Monday’s verdict.
In its new ruling, the ECJ reaffirmed its position on the chamber’s punitive powers and directly challenged the obligation to provide personal data, such as political party membership and NGO affiliation, that Polish judges were compelled to follow.
“The placing online of information relating to past membership of a political party is not, in the present case, appropriate for attaining the alleged objective of strengthening the impartiality of judges,” the judges said on Monday.
The disclosure is “liable to expose judges to risks of undue stigmatisation, by unjustifiably affecting the perception of those judges by individuals and the public in general.”
The Polish government has already tabled legislation to address the most controversial aspects of the reform and secure the release of its €35-billion share of the EU’s COVID-19 recovery fund, which Brussels is currently withholding.
But in a surprising move, President Andrzej Duda chose to send the proposed law to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, further delaying its implementation.
I just hope the Polish people can get rid of their wannabe-authoritarian leadership.
Such a nice country plagued by anti-democratic forces.
This is huge and will rally the rabid nationalists even more. Poland is a mafia state currently with no experts, just loyalists at the helm.
Truly a PiS-poor move the Polish gov did there. The only reason why one wouldn’t want unrestricted access to an independent tribunal is because they know they can’t win impartially. More simply put, they have basically proven to be corrupt, well done.
What a surprise.
To the surprise of nobody.
And now the bill meant to reverse some of it is in purgatory – locked for inspections of the very Constitutional Tribunal that PiS installed their puppets in, but now has its judges boycott the proceedings due to the chairman not resigning by now.
It wouldn’t matter as much had EU funds not been at stake, but the thing is: they are. This is the biggest issue in all of this aside from the rule of law being violated for the Nth time. It may not be reported on much anymore, but it remains a dark presence.
“But you don’t understand, this was the whole point!” – PiS, in a rare display of candor.
>In the opinion of the Tribunal, the provisions requiring judges to submit a written statement indicating membership in an association, activity in a foundation or political party are also incompatible with EU law. “They violate the fundamental rights of judges to the protection of personal data and to respect for private life,” it was reported.
>
>In the opinion of the CJEU judges, making such data publicly available does not increase the impartiality of judges, and may expose them to “undeserved stigmatization” by society.
Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a great idea EU, considering how bad and corrupt justice system was&is in Poland. Agreeing with this opinion would breed even more corruption (it’s not like judges were ever impartial and resistant to political pressure/sympathies before PiS came to power).
Additionally it makes Polish law/constitution meaningless – according to it judges are prohibited from taking part in political activities, joining political parties and unions.
It’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater in my opinion.
All of this, the demolition of the rule of law, is happening right in front of us. And it’s been happening for years and years already, ever since PiS took over back in 2015, actually. *That’s* when the EU should have woken up.
9 comments
The controversial reform has caused an intense and protracted dispute between the Polish government and the European Commission.
Poland’s judicial reform infringes upon European law because it undermines the right to have access to an independent and impartial judiciary, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said in a highly-anticipated ruling.
“The value of the rule of law is an integral part of the very identity of the European Union as a common legal order and is given concrete expression in principles containing legally binding obligations for the member states,” the judges said on Monday afternoon.
“The measures thus adopted by the Polish legislature are incompatible with the guarantees of access to an independent and impartial tribunal. previously established by law.”
The ruling is an unambiguous rejection of the reform introduced in 2019 by the hard-right government of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which sparked an intense dispute between Warsaw and Brussels.
The contentious reform changed the rules that govern the relations between courts, preventing judges from questioning each other’s impartiality and reviewing the legality of their appointments.
It also empowered the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court to punish magistrates according to the content of their verdicts. Possible penalties included a reduction of salary, the temporary suspension of duties and the waiver of immunity to allow the initiation of criminal proceedings.
The chamber has been repeatedly criticised by the European Commission, the United Nations and civil society organisations as a political tool to exert control over the judiciary and weaken the separation of powers.
Warsaw defended the body as a necessary instrument to purge influence from the communist era and crack down on corruption.
The European Court of Justice had previously ruled the chamber was incompatible with EU law and imposed a series of interim measures and ordered its dismantlement.
Poland’s continued refusal to comply with the interim measures led the ECJ to slap a record-breaking €1 million fine per day on the country, which was reduced to €500,000 earlier this year after the disciplinary body was replaced with a “chamber of professional responsibility.”
The fine is being deducted from Poland’s allocation of the EU budget and is supposed to stay in place until the issuance of Monday’s verdict.
In its new ruling, the ECJ reaffirmed its position on the chamber’s punitive powers and directly challenged the obligation to provide personal data, such as political party membership and NGO affiliation, that Polish judges were compelled to follow.
“The placing online of information relating to past membership of a political party is not, in the present case, appropriate for attaining the alleged objective of strengthening the impartiality of judges,” the judges said on Monday.
The disclosure is “liable to expose judges to risks of undue stigmatisation, by unjustifiably affecting the perception of those judges by individuals and the public in general.”
The Polish government has already tabled legislation to address the most controversial aspects of the reform and secure the release of its €35-billion share of the EU’s COVID-19 recovery fund, which Brussels is currently withholding.
But in a surprising move, President Andrzej Duda chose to send the proposed law to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, further delaying its implementation.
I just hope the Polish people can get rid of their wannabe-authoritarian leadership.
Such a nice country plagued by anti-democratic forces.
This is huge and will rally the rabid nationalists even more. Poland is a mafia state currently with no experts, just loyalists at the helm.
Truly a PiS-poor move the Polish gov did there. The only reason why one wouldn’t want unrestricted access to an independent tribunal is because they know they can’t win impartially. More simply put, they have basically proven to be corrupt, well done.
What a surprise.
To the surprise of nobody.
And now the bill meant to reverse some of it is in purgatory – locked for inspections of the very Constitutional Tribunal that PiS installed their puppets in, but now has its judges boycott the proceedings due to the chairman not resigning by now.
It wouldn’t matter as much had EU funds not been at stake, but the thing is: they are. This is the biggest issue in all of this aside from the rule of law being violated for the Nth time. It may not be reported on much anymore, but it remains a dark presence.
“But you don’t understand, this was the whole point!” – PiS, in a rare display of candor.
>In the opinion of the Tribunal, the provisions requiring judges to submit a written statement indicating membership in an association, activity in a foundation or political party are also incompatible with EU law. “They violate the fundamental rights of judges to the protection of personal data and to respect for private life,” it was reported.
>
>In the opinion of the CJEU judges, making such data publicly available does not increase the impartiality of judges, and may expose them to “undeserved stigmatization” by society.
Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a great idea EU, considering how bad and corrupt justice system was&is in Poland. Agreeing with this opinion would breed even more corruption (it’s not like judges were ever impartial and resistant to political pressure/sympathies before PiS came to power).
Additionally it makes Polish law/constitution meaningless – according to it judges are prohibited from taking part in political activities, joining political parties and unions.
It’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater in my opinion.
And this is one of the main reasons PiS is [challenging](https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/02/15/brussels-launches-legal-action-against-poland-for-challenging-primacy-of-eu-law/) the primacy of EU law over national law. So they can push through their anti-democratic changes without having to deal with what the ECJ says about it.
All of this, the demolition of the rule of law, is happening right in front of us. And it’s been happening for years and years already, ever since PiS took over back in 2015, actually. *That’s* when the EU should have woken up.