In a pair of decisions, the European Court of Justice found the key Polish court, which rules on constitutional matters, “infringed several fundamental principles of EU law” by disregarding the ECJ’s own case law. It also said it was plagued by “serious irregularities” in the appointment of four of its judges.
The EU had a bitter feud with Poland during eight years of rule by the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), during which the Polish government overhauled the judiciary and appointed three hand-picked judges and a new chief justice to the Constitutional Tribunal.
The PiS lost power with the election of pro-European Prime Minister Donald Tusk in 2023, but Poland’s judicial system still bears some of the marks of its reforms. The ECJ ruled in favour of the European Commission, which brought the case over a pair of 2021 rulings by the Polish court. It found that Poland did not have the right to ignore EU law by declaring it incompatible with the national constitution.
“Poland may not rely on its constitutional identity to avoid compliance with the shared values (of the EU) such as the rule of law, effective judicial protection and the independence of the judiciary,” the ECJ said in a statement. “Those values form the very basis of the identity of the European Union, to which Poland freely acceded.”
While in power, the PiS argued that its judicial reforms were needed to root out corrupt judges. But the EU accused the nationalist authorities of violating democratic principles. Since taking office, Tusk’s centrist government has again reformed the judicial system, re-recognised the primacy of EU law and made other moves to address concerns in Brussels.
However, it has clashed with nationalist President Karol Nawrocki, who vowed earlier this month to defend the Constitutional Tribunal against what he called the current government’s attacks.
Platform with AFP
