From now on, it will be possible to invoke recent rulings by the EU Court of Justice and the Polish Supreme Court as a means of undermining judges appointed by the new National Council of the Judiciary. It is highly likely we will see competing and contradictory verdicts and resolutions being handed down by courts, including the various chambers of the Supreme Court. “This needs to be dealt with via legislation,” says Michał Laskowski, Spokesman for the Supreme Court.

Open Letter to the President of the European Commission regarding Poland’s disciplinary regime for judges and the urgent need for interim measures in Commission v Poland (C-791/19)

Thanks to the Association of Judges “Themis”, we publish the translation of oral justification of the Supreme Court judgment of 5 December 2019 in case in which it requested the Court of Justice for preliminary ruling of 19 November 2019

“I hope that nobody will dare to further strike at the justice system,” said Andrzej Duda. Who did he have in mind? The judges of the Supreme Court. He accused them of links with the communist regime, corruption and deliberately misleading the EU Court of Justice. “They were masters of life and death,” shouted the president. No PiS politician had the chutzpah to react like that to the CJEU ruling.

Following the delivery of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg on the National Council of the Judiciary and the Disciplinary Chamber, we emphasise that all authorities of the Republic of Poland are obliged to fully execute the said judgment.

The Disciplinary Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court has convicted Judge Alina Czubieniak for a verdict she issued. This represents the beginning of a new phase in repressions against judges in Poland. The National Council of the Judiciary has elected new judges to two chambers of the Supreme Court.

Poland’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights, Maciej Taborowski, explains the significance of prejudicial questions submitted by Polish courts. On Tuesday 19 November, the CJEU will issue a crucial ruling determining the status of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court and the neo-National Council of the Judiciary.

On 8 July 2019, prosecutor Mariusz Krasoń was relocated from the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Cracow, Poland to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Wrocław-Krzyki, almost 300 km away, and two levels lower in the hierarchy. The Justice Defence Committee (KOS) indicates that in May 2019, prosecutor Krasoń initiated a resolution of the Assembly of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Cracow.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled for a second time that a cornerstone of the PiS-led judicial “reforms” is incompatible with EU law. In its verdict of 5 November, the CJEU stated that the provisions of the Common Courts Act adopted in 2017, including those making the retirement ages for men and women different, infringed the prohibition on discrimination and violated the principle of effective judicial protection.

While the freedom of expression of public officials can be sometimes restricted with a view to protecting the impartiality and independence of institutions, in the event of a breach of the rule of law, judges and prosecutors can be seen as having a moral duty to speak out – says the report.