The fact that Poland curtailed the independence of its judges caused a great deal of controversy in the EU, including daily fines. Then things seemed to be settled. But now judges’ associations are filing a lawsuit, because the decisive requirement of the ECJ has not been met at all.
Four leading European associations of judges are suing to prevent the EU from releasing billions in funds to the country despite continued restrictions on the independence of the judiciary in Poland. The associations have appealed to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg against a corresponding decision made by the EU member states in June.
The conditions imposed on Poland for the release of billions in funds from the Corona Aid Fund are “below what is necessary to ensure effective protection of the independence of judges and the judiciary,” criticized the four judges’ associations in one joint statement. Earlier specifications of the ECJ were not sufficiently taken into account.
After the EU Commission, the finance ministers of the EU member states also agreed in mid-June to release 35.4 billion euros in EU funds for Poland. In return, the government in Warsaw made a “very important” commitment regarding the independence of the judiciary, it said.
EU funds had been blocked for more than a year because of Poland’s controversial judicial reform. Brussels made three conditions for the release: the dissolution of the Disciplinary Chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court, a reform of the disciplinary measures for judges and the possibility for sanctioned judges to have their case reconsidered.
The judges’ associations emphasize that the ECJ, in its decision of July 2021, called for an “immediate” reintegration of judges who were wrongly disciplinary measures. However, according to the current agreement between Poland and the EU, reviewing the punishment of judges could take more than a year.
The judges’ associations warned that the EU states’ green light for the payment of EU aid to Poland would harm the European judiciary as a whole. This will be destabilized “when the judicial system of one or more member states no longer offers guarantees of independence and no longer respects the fundamental principles of the rule of law”.
The EU Commission has been criticizing the influence of the national-conservative governing party PiS on the judiciary in Poland for years. Warsaw only made concessions after the ECJ imposed fines of one million euros a day on Poland in November.
