The Court of Justice does not recognise the questions of the neo-Judges of the Civil Chamber and the Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs Chamber in the Supreme Court, because they do not form a court. What does this mean?

In a letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Ombudsman Marcin Wiącek clarifies that there is no basis for assuming that individuals appointed to judicial positions since 2018 are not legitimate judges and that the rulings they have issued are non-existent.

Magdalena Niemiec from Katowice may become the first judge in Poland to file a precedent-setting lawsuit against the current government. She demands a swift resolution to the illegal neo-National Council of the Judiciary (neo-KRS) issue and the restitution of judges’ salaries, which were reduced for two years by the Law and Justice (PiS) government.

Not only Poland, but several other EU countries also fail to fully implement rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). This issue extends beyond judicial independence.

Donald Tusk has countersigned President Duda’s decree appointing a neo-judge as the chairperson of the Assembly of Judges of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court, which is tasked with electing a new Chief Justice of the Chamber. “Supreme Court judges are devastated and stunned. They feel betrayed,” comments Krystian Markiewicz, President of Iustitia.

Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar has requested the Venice Commission’s opinion on two proposed models for addressing the neo-judges problem. Dr. Anna Wójcik explains the nature of the dispute and the potential significance of the Venice Commission’s opinion.

The new government is clearly signaling to both the Polish and global public opinion, as well as to EU institutions and the Council of Europe, that it will abide by the rulings of the CJEU and the ECHR.

The Court of Justice of the EU accepted all of the European Commission’s allegations and held that the Muzzle Act that tightens the disciplinary system for judges is incompatible with EU law. And that not only the Chamber of Control of the Supreme Court is to have the right to perform ‘independence tests’

The European Commission is accusing Poland that the Constitutional Tribunal is breaching the legal order of the European Union and the rights of EU citizens with its rulings. The Commission is also contesting the choice of the ‘stand-ins’ and Julia Przyłębska as President of the Constitutional Tribunal. That is why it is referring the case to the EU Court of Justice. What happens next? Our explainer.

The European Court of Human Rights will rule on the cases of eight people who were recommended by the ‘old’, legal National Council of the Judiciary to the Supreme Court, among others, whereas President Duda refused to appoint them without giving reasons.