Status: 10/6/2021 3:10 p.m.
The European Court of Justice has ruled again against the judicial reforms in Poland. The judges called for an independent review of appeals against the transfer of judges.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has condemned Poland for violating the principle of the independence of the judiciary. The court found that Polish judge Waldemar Zurek was wrongly refused to sue his removal from office in 2018.
On the other hand, the ECJ commented on the appointment of a judge who had rejected Zurek’s appeal in the Chamber for Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs at the Supreme Court. The judge was appointed by the Polish President Andrzej Duda in 2019 in apparent disregard of the basic rules for the appointment of judges at the Supreme Court.
If the Polish court follows the ECJ’s assessment, it can be ruled out that the judge in question could constitute an independent, impartial and previously statutorily established court, it said. In that case, his decision to reject Zurek’s appeal must be considered nonexistent.
Already several judgments against judicial reform
The national-conservative PiS government has been reorganizing the country’s judiciary for years, regardless of international criticism, and is putting judges under pressure. The EU Commission complained against the reforms several times – some of them were overturned by the ECJ.
It is up to the Polish judiciary to decide how to implement the ECJ’s decision. The EU could also force this through a court decision.
Polish politicians criticize decision
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticized the judgment. “This is an attempt to attack the stability of the social and legal system at its core,” said the 53-year-old from the PAP news agency. The government could not allow that. The verdict of the European Court of Justice could “hypothetically lead to deep chaos”. Polish citizens can no longer be sure of the legality of judgments made
Poland’s Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta criticized on Twitter that the ECJ wanted to replace the country’s constitutional court and control Poland’s judiciary itself. The ruling national-conservative PiS party had fundamentally changed the judicial system and justified this with the wish to remove structures from the time of communist rule.
Fundamental decision on Thursday
On Thursday, the Polish Constitutional Court will deal again with the question of whether the Polish Basic Law is above EU law. A decision on this has already been postponed several times or meetings canceled at short notice.
Morawiecki had asked the constitutional judges to review a ruling by the ECJ from March. In it, the top EU judges had ruled that EU law can force member states to disregard individual provisions in national law. This applies even if it is a question of constitutional law.
Morawiecki: ECJ ruling leads to judicial chaos
Jan Pallokat, ARD Warsaw, October 6th, 2021 3:53 p.m.