The European bloc’s top court delivered the verdict on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
In its ruling, the CJEU sided with the EU’s executive Commission, which had brought an action against Poland “for failure to fulfill obligations” and asked the court “to declare that the regime put in place” by Poland’s 2019 justice reform “infringes various provisions of EU law.”
The EU’s Luxemburg-based top court said on Monday that publishing online declarations on judges' membership in associations, non-profit foundations or political parties violated their right to privacy and could be used to sway them, the Reuters news agency reported.
The CJEU listed several elements of Poland’s judicial reform that it said were damaging the independence of judges, and hence undermining the rule of law, according to Reuters.
The CJEU said in a statement: “The Polish justice reform of December 2019 infringes EU law. The value of the rule of law is an integral part of the very identity of the European Union.”
Dispute over Poland’s justice reform
Poland’s justice reform, for which Brussels brought an action before the CJEU, was enacted on December 20, 2019, according to officials.
The reform, overseen by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, amended national rules relating to the organisation of the ordinary courts, the administrative courts and the Supreme Court, the PAP news agency reported.
During the proceedings, at the request of the European Commission, the CJEU in July 2021 ordered Poland to suspend the application of the provisions of the 2019 justice reform contested by Brussels, while the “Commission vs. Poland” case was ongoing, according to officials.
In October 2021, the CJEU ordered Poland to pay the Commission a daily penalty of EUR 1 million for not suspending the application of the 2019 justice reform regarding the powers of the now-defunct Disciplinary Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court with respect to judges, the PAP news agency reported.
In July 2022, following the passage of legislation introduced by President Andrzej Duda, the Disciplinary Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court was disbanded and replaced by a new Chamber of Professional Responsibility, according to news outlets.
In November 2022, the Polish government asked the Commission to suspend the daily fine, arguing it had delivered the reforms required by the CJEU, including the dissolution of the Disciplinary Chamber, the PAP news agency reported.
However, Brussels declined on the grounds that Poland had not fully implemented the CJEU’s order from July 2021, according to officials.
In January 2023, Poland’s lower house, the Sejm, voted to move the disciplinary regime for judges and matters of judicial impunity from the Supreme Court’s Chamber of Professional Responsibility to the Supreme Administrative Court, news outlets reported.
The new rules also foresee significant changes in the “test of a judge’s independence and impartiality,” according to the PAP news agency.
In March 2023, Poland asked the CJEU to cancel or modify the October 2021 decision ordering Warsaw to pay the daily fine of EUR 1 million, arguing it had now fully complied with the “temporary measures” imposed by the CJEU in July 2021, according to officials.
In April 2023, the CJEU halved the daily fine on Poland to EUR 500,000, saying that Warsaw has largely delivered the required changes, the PAP news agency reported.
Poland's conservative government has been embroiled in a long-standing dispute with the European Commission over judicial reforms that critics say undermine the independence of the courts, according to reports.
The row has blocked EUR 23.9 billion in grants and EUR 11.5 billion in loans from the EU’s pandemic relief fund and also triggered the fines, news outlets have reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters, curia.europa.eu