ECHR judgment: Poland must compensate dismissed judges


As of: 29.06.2021 1 p.m.

In the course of a judicial reform, Poland’s national-conservative government had dismissed numerous judges. Two of them sued the European Court of Human Rights. Poland has to compensate them financially.

From Gigi Deppe,
ARD legal editor

Now it is starting to get expensive for the Polish state. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has awarded two judges compensation for the first time.

Discontinued without further justification

A woman and a man who were vice-presidents of a regional court in a small town near Krakow will each receive 20,000 euros. They were appointed in 2014 and their term of office should last until 2020. But in 2018, they informed the Justice Department that they had lost that post due to a new law. They asked the ministry why – but only received the information that this was necessary for the proper functioning of the courts.

They went before the ECHR in Strasbourg, and it has now stood by them: judges must be protected against arbitrary dismissals, their independence is a great asset. It is not okay if the government removes judges from office without giving reasons and if there is then not even an opportunity for those concerned to lodge a complaint with an independent body.

Concrete assistance

At the beginning of May the court had already ruled that the Polish Constitutional Court was controlled too much by the government and was therefore illegally occupied. Now, for the first time, a European court has given the Polish judges concerned very specific support. Those who oppose making the Polish judiciary completely dependent on the government can expect substantial compensation.

However, it is not certain whether the Polish state will pay these 20,000 euros. In some cases, the European judges have to publicly denounce and warn again and again until such compensation sums actually flow.

Europ. Court of Human Rights: Polish judges receive compensation

Gigi Deppe, SWR, June 29, 2021 12:42 p.m.



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