Polish Judicial Reform Violates EU Law

Based on the ruling, the 2019 judicial reform violates EU regulation.

The 2019 Polish judicial reform violates EU regulation. This was determined by the European Courtroom of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. The judges thus upheld a lawsuit by the EU Fee.

Particularly, the disciplinary physique for judges, which has since been abolished, has undermined judicial independence, it stated. Based on his critics, the primary objective of the chamber arrange by the Polish authorities was to convey unbiased judges into line and – in the event that they had been too important – to punish them. For instance, with a compelled switch or with a farewell to early retirement.

As a result of Warsaw refused to implement earlier ECJ rulings, the courtroom lastly imposed a high quality of 1 million euros per day inside the now determined proceedings. The sentence was halved within the spring as a result of the federal government has now made some modifications to the justice system. From the EU’s perspective, nevertheless, this isn’t sufficient.

The ECJ has now confirmed in the primary proceedings that the Disciplinary Chamber had violated EU regulation even after the modifications. The independence of the judges was nonetheless not assured. The likelihood for the courts to invoke EU regulation has additionally been restricted.

Additional proceedings towards Poland in sight

Additional proceedings towards Poland are already foreseeable: In February, the EU Fee once more sued the nation for violations of EU regulation by the Polish Constitutional Courtroom. The procedures are delicate for Warsaw, as a result of some huge cash is now at stake: the EU Fee is holding again a number of billion euros from the Corona improvement fund for Poland as a result of it has doubts in regards to the judicial system there.