Tag: Court of Justice of the EU

Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland support the European Commission and demand the Court of Justice declares that the Polish government violates the Union law in case C-791/19 regarding the disciplinary system for judges

The illegally constituted Disciplinary Chamber has lifted the immunity of Judge Igor Tuleya, which will allow the National Prosecutor’s Office to bring absurd criminal charges against him for admitting journalists to an announcement of a ruling which was important to the public. Tuleya was also suspended from his duties as a judge and had his salary reduced by 25%.

On 12 October, the rule of law in Poland was discussed in Warsaw, Brussels, Strasbourg, and Luxembourg. Prof. John Morijn reports from the Court of Justice of the EU and analyses arguments made before the Grand Chamber in the PPU cases. The Advocate General will issue his Opinion on 12 November.

‘The only way to contain the increasing lawlessness that we are witnessing in Poland is for your Commission to step up to the task it is given under the Treaties to enforce EU law. Do not further delay action in the name of dialogue. One simply cannot engage in dialogue with a pyromaniac who is actively adding fuel to a blaze. The rule of law in Poland is not merely being attacked. It is being destroyed in plain sight. ‘ – writes a dozen of law professors from across the globe to the European Commission President

We publish in full the speech made on 22 September 2020 by Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram and Michał Wawrykiewicz, attorneys-at-law representing judge Waldemar Żurek before the Court of Justice of the EU in C-487/19 case regarding the Supreme Court’s request for a preliminary ruling. 

“The involvement of a judge, who speaks up on such public matters related to the rule of law is certainly not a political voice.” Prof. Marek Safjan, judge of the Court of Justice of the EU and retired judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, comments on the reports that the disciplinary commissioners want to prosecute 1,200 judges throughout Poland who signed the letter to the OSCE asking it to oversee the postal presidential elections, which were to be held in May 2020.

The Chamber of Labour has asked the CJEU to consider the status of the ‘new’ Supreme Court judges, as well as the bans on judges in the ‘muzzle’ act adopted by PiS. It has also requested the CJEU to consider its preliminary questions under an accelerated procedure

Concerted effort of the CJEU and the ECtHR may result in the hindering of some of the negative effects of changes in the judiciary. So far it has been the CJEU that has been active, with the courageous involvement of national judges and civil society – writes prof. Adam Bodnar, the Commissioner for Human Rights

In my opinion, each of the two points of the CJEU order is sufficient for the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court to stop all judicial activity with regard to judges, until the final judgment is delivered by the CJEU or until the safeguard order is amended, Adam Bodnar emphasizes.

The Constitutional Tribunal, by a decision of its full bench, ruled that the resolution of the three combined chambers of the Supreme Court is incompatible with the constitution and international law. According to Professor and CJEU Judge Marek Safjan, this ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal is “highly disturbing” and can even threaten Poland’s membership in the European Union.