ECJ ruling: Polish reform of the judiciary is contrary to EU law

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The provisions of the 2019 Polish judicial reform are in breach of EU law, according to a verdict announced on Monday. The ruling from Luxembourg may also have consequences for a previously imposed penalty payment in summary proceedings.

Background is a 2021 EU Commission court case, according to which several Polish regulations violate EU law. As guardian of the EU treaties, the Commission is responsible for monitoring countries’ compliance with EU law. She repeatedly takes Germany to the Court of Justice to enforce compliance with EU law.

The current dispute concerned, among other things, a law on the discipline of judges. The ECJ has now made it clear: Polish rules do not guarantee access to an independent and impartial judge. This means that national courts can check whether they or other courts meet the requirements of EU law.

The national-conservative government of Poland has been restructuring the judiciary there for years, despite international criticism. The European Commission has complained several times about the reforms. Some decisions were overturned by the ECJ.

Because Warsaw refused to implement previous ECJ rulings, the court eventually imposed a fine of one million euros per day within the procedure that has now been decided. The sentence was halved in the spring because the government has now made some changes to the justice system.

However, from the point of view of the EU, this is not enough. Further proceedings are already foreseeable: in February, the European Commission again sued Poland for violations of EU law by the Polish Constitutional Court. The procedures are difficult for Warsaw, because a lot of money is now at stake: the European Commission is withholding several billion euros from the Corona development fund for Poland because it has doubts about the legal system there.

(SDA)

Source: Blick