Polish Constitutional Court: EU law partly incompatible with the constitution

According to the Polish Constitutional Court, some EU laws violate the Polish Constitution. The ruling could exacerbate the dispute over the Polish judicial reform between Warsaw and Brussels.

The Polish Constitutional Court has ruled that some laws of the European Union are contrary to the Polish Constitution. The court in Warsaw stated that this concerned provisions of the EU treaties and European court judgments. Two judges deviated from the majority opinion of the panel.

“The attempt by the European Court of Justice to interfere in the Polish judicial system violates (…) the rule of primacy of the constitution and the rule that sovereignty is preserved in the process of European integration,” the judges judged.

Head of government reads ECJ ruling to be examined

Specifically, the procedure concerned whether provisions from the EU treaties, with which the EU Commission justifies its right to have a say in questions of the rule of law, are compatible with the Polish constitution.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had asked the Polish Constitutional Court to review a judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of March 2, 2021. In the ruling, the top EU judges found that EU law can force member states to disregard individual provisions in national law, even if it is constitutional law. This would mean that the ECJ could force Poland to repeal parts of the controversial judicial reform of the national-conservative PiS government.

Judges emphasize Poland’s sovereignty

The Polish constitutional judges had serious doubts about this. In the judgment that has now been pronounced, they stated that the country’s EU membership and the signing of the EU treaties did not mean that the EU courts would be given supreme legal authority and that Poland would cede its sovereignty to the EU.

Julia Przylebska, the chairwoman of the Polish constitutional court and close confidante of PiS boss Jaroslaw Kaczynski, accuses the EU of exceeding its powers. “The institutions of the EU act outside the limits of the competence that Poland gives them,” said Przylebska when delivering the verdict.

EU doubts the independence of the constitutional court

Brussels, on the other hand, accuses the government in Warsaw of undermining the independence of the courts and the separation of powers. Specifically, it concerns, among other things, a disciplinary chamber for judges, which was introduced in 2018. Critics consider the body to be politically not independent. The independence of the constitutional judges themselves is also in question as a result of the judicial reforms.

The EU Commission has already opened several infringement proceedings against the government in Warsaw because of the Polish judicial reforms and has filed lawsuits with the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The EU Commission reacted “concerned” to the judgment of the Polish Constitutional Court. Brussels will use “all means” to ensure that EU law is respected in Poland, said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders. The principle that EU law takes precedence over national law and the binding character of decisions by the EU judiciary are central to the confederation of states.

Poland: Judgment in the proceedings for the primacy of EU law

Jan Pallokat, ARD Warsaw, October 7th, 2021 6:10 p.m.