The European Court of Justice Has Ruled Against Poland for Appointing Judges Who Are Not Sufficiently Independent

The European Court of Justice Has Ruled Against Poland for Appointing Judges Who Are Not Sufficiently Independent

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Poland's Supreme Court's Disciplinary Chamber acted undemocratically by choosing judges who were not sufficiently impartial, rejecting a Polish court ruling.

After publicly criticizing the government's judicial reforms, Judge Waldemar Zurek was transferred from the second-instance division to the first-instance division—an obvious demotion. Zurek filed an appeal, but the National Council of the Judiciary dismissed it (KRS).

He then went to the Supreme Court to challenge the dismissal. He also filed a petition requesting that the judges on the Supreme Court's Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs (CECPA) be barred from hearing his appeal.

His claim was that the judges who would be hearing the case were appointed in an unlawful manner, and thus could not conduct an unbiased and independent examination of his appeal. Zurek's appeal was denied as "inadmissible" by a single CECPA judge on March 8, 2019, before his motion for the judges' exclusion had even been heard.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) examined the case and concluded on Wednesday that the courts had violated both Article 19(1) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR), which guarantees the right to a fair trial. The judge's decision to dismiss Zurek's appeal was overturned as a result of this.

The ruling of the ECJ emphasizes ongoing tensions between the EU and Poland as a result of the EU's alleged involvement in Poland's social and legislative system.