Controversial judicial reforms: ECJ renegotiates verdict against Poland

The European Court of Justice has again ruled against judicial reforms in Poland. The judges called for an independent review of the 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 had been wrongly denied a suit to sack office in 2018.

The ECJ, on the other hand, commented on the appointment of a judge who had dismissed Zurek’s appeal for extraordinary review in the Supreme Court and the Chamber of Public Affairs. The judge was appointed by Polish President Andrzej Duda in 2019 in clear defiance of the basic rules for the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.

If the Polish court follows the assessment of the ECJ, it can be ruled out that the judge in question may constitute an independent, impartial and already statutorily established court. In that case, his decision to deny Zurek’s appeal should be deemed non-existent.

Already several decisions against judicial reform

The national-conservative PiS government has been restructuring the country’s judiciary for years, regardless of international criticism, and putting pressure on judges. The EU Commission complained against the reforms several times – some of them overturned by the ECJ.

It is up to the Polish judiciary to decide how to implement the ECJ’s decision. The EU can also enforce it through a court decision.

Polish politicians criticized the decision

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticized the decision. “This is an attempt to attack the stability of the social and legal system,” the 53-year-old told PAP news agency. The government could not allow this. The decision of the European Court of Justice “could lead to deep chaos imaginatively”. Polish citizens can no longer be sure of the legality of the decisions 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. The ruling national-conservative PiS party had radically changed the judicial system and justified it with a desire to remove structures from the time of communist rule.

Fundamental decision on Thursday

On Thursday, the Polish Constitutional Court will again tackle the question of whether Polish Basic Law is above EU law. Decisions on this have already been postponed several times or meetings have been canceled at short notice.

Moraviki had asked constitutional judges to review the ECJ’s decision from March. In it, the top EU judges ruled that EU law can compel member states to disregard individual provisions in national law. This applies even when it is a question of constitutional law.