To understand why the 7 October 2021 decision of the Constitutional Tribunal is such a threat to the rule of law, it is necessary to review the arguments of the Polish government that prompted this decision, together with the arguments presented by the Commissioner for Human Rights in opposition that were rejected by the Tribunal. The conclusion from such a review is apparent – the goal of the current government is to free itself in reality from the constraints of EU law while formally remaining a Member State.

The Committee on Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences: the ruling  of the Constitutional Tribunal in case K 3/21 of October 7, 2021 is defective due to the faulty appointment of judges and aims to legalize unconstitutional changes introduced in the administration of justice after 2015 which are inconsistent with EU law and the European Convention

“It is not true that the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 7 October 2021 was issued in order to guarantee primacy of the Constitution over EU law, as such a position of the Constitution has been sufficiently established in the Tribunal’s judgments to date”

In keeping with the legacy of Marek Edelman, Jacek Kuroń, and Irena Sendler, and endeavoring to live according to their example, we cannot remain silent while people are dying at the Polish border.

The Constitutional Tribunal, headed by Julia Przyłębska, ruled that the CJEU’s interpretation of Articles 1 and 19 of the EU Treaty is incompatible with the Constitution. The Prime Minister used the Constitutional Tribunal to block judges from invoking CJEU judgments and to have a para-argument in the negotiations with the European Commission.

A dozen or so judges from Kraków issued a statement that they would not adjudicate with neo-judges. For that, the court president, a nominee of Minister Ziobro quickly reported them to the disciplinary commissioner. But more judges from Warsaw and Rzeszów are contesting the legality of the neo-judges.

Disciplinary commissioner Piotr Schab suspended judge Piotr Gąciarek for a month for a declaration made a few days earlier in which Gąciarek refused to adjudicate in a bench with a judge promoted by the new, political National Council of the Judiciary. Gąciarek is the second judge recently suspended for refusing to adjudicate with a neo-judge in the performance of the July judgment of the CJEU and the ECtHR.

“We inform the authorities of the Republic of Poland and the public that we do not agree with the ban on journalists’ work in the border area. It means depriving us of the ability to fulfill the mission of our profession and depriving society of the constitutional right to information.” – write Polish media outlets

The Minister of Justice suspended Judge Adam Synakiewicz from Częstochowa for a month for challenging the status of neo-judges and implementing the judgments of the CJEU and ECtHR. Zbigniew Ziobro breached the CJEU judgment in this way, for which he may be criminally liable in the future

“We, journalists of the Polish media, protest against the actions of the United Right government striking at the independence of TVN.  We will not allow the freedom of the media in our country to be destroyed and we call on the world’s public opinion to intervene. “