The Polish politically captured Constitutional Tribunal ruled in case K 6 /21 that it is not a court within the meaning of the European Convention on Human Rights. It also ruled that the European Court of Human Rights cannot judge the legality of judicial appointments. We publish argumentation presented in the case before the Constitutional Tribunal by the Commissioner for Human Rights.

Judge Maciej Rutkiewicz was suspended for a month for applying the CJEU judgment and the Supreme Court resolution. He was suspended by a nominee of Minister Ziobro. Rutkiewicz is the sixth judge in Poland suspended for applying EU law and in clear violation of the CJEU order

‘The authorities will try to use the carrot-and-stick method: a stick for those judges who are fighting for the rule of law, and a carrot for those they try to persuade over to them,’ believes Judge Waldemar Żurek. We discuss scenarios of further changes in courts and judges’ reactions to them

Judge Agnieszka Niklas-Bibik from Słupsk is the first Polish judge suspended for asking preliminary questions to the CJEU. She was also repressed for enforcing judgments of the ECtHR and the CJEU. The judge was suspended by the president of the Słupsk court, appointed by Zbigniew Ziobro

“We hope that it will contribute to the clarification of the false statements contained in the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment of October 7, 2021 (K 3/21), its oral explanations, and statements of political authorities’ representatives regarding the coexistence of Polish and the European Union law.”

“The conclusion of the Constitutional Tribunal was made in violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, with the participation of persons not authorised to adjudicate and in fact exceed the scope of cognition of the Constitutional Tribunal, which does not include the control of judicial decisions, including decisions of the Court of Justice of the EU. “

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.