As of: November 8th, 2021 3:18 pm
In connection with the controversial judicial reform, the human rights court in Strasbourg sentenced Poland to pay fines to two Polish judges. Poland allegedly denied judges the right to a fair trial.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has sentenced Poland to pay compensation in connection with the country’s controversial judicial reform. The procedure for appointing judges in Poland was inadmissibly influenced by parliament and the executive branch, said the Strasbourg court.
Two judges had complained
Warsaw now has to pay 15,000 euros each to two Polish judges who complained in Strasbourg – for violating their human right to a fair trial. In addition, the Polish government has an obligation to put an end to the grievances identified by Strasbourg. However, the judgment is not yet final. Both parties to the litigation can still contest it within three months.
The two Polish judges complained because they had applied for new posts in their country, but were rejected. They then turned to a newly created chamber of the country’s highest court as part of the Polish judicial reform, but failed. Now the ECHR denied legitimacy to this chamber: it was not a legitimate tribunal.
Contrary to the rule of law
The members of this chamber have been appointed by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda on the recommendation of the controversial National Judicial Council, is the allegation. According to critics, this is therefore no longer a politically independent body since its composition was changed by the PiS parliamentary majority. The ECHR accused Duda of acting in “blatant contradiction to the rule of law” when he considered the recommendations of the State Judicial Council.
The national-conservative PiS government has been reorganizing the country’s judiciary for years, despite international criticism, and is putting judges under pressure. The EU Commission has already complained against the reforms several times; some of them were overturned by the European Court of Justice. According to the ECHR, 57 complaints were received against Poland between 2018 and 2021 because of the Polish judicial reform.