EU Court Rules Polish Judge Appointments Undermine Impartiality

EU court rules Polish judge appointments undermine impartiality

Europe's top court on Tuesday ruled that the Polish justice minister's power to assign judges to a higher criminal court and also terminate their appointment without stating reasons undermines judicial independence

Luxembourg, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Nov, 2021 ) :Europe's top court on Tuesday ruled that the Polish justice minister's power to assign judges to a higher criminal court and also terminate their appointment without stating reasons undermines judicial independence.

The ruling from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was the latest salvo in a stand-off between the EU and Poland over Polish judicial reforms.

The confrontation escalated last month after Poland's Constitutional Court challenged the primacy of EU law.

Tuesday's judgment found that the Polish rules went against EU law.

"The minister for justice has... the power to second judges to higher courts and to terminate their secondment, without being required to give reasons for that decision," the CJEU said.

The result is that seconded judges "are not provided with the guarantees and the independence which all judges should normally enjoy in a state governed by the rule of law," it said.

"Such a power cannot be considered compatible with the obligation to comply with the requirement of independence," it added.

The court said rules on the matter must include guarantees that will "prevent any risk of those secondments being used as a means of exerting political control over the content of judicial decisions".

Warsaw and Brussels have been at loggerheads for years over a series of disputed judicial reforms pushed through by the Law and Justice (PiS) government.

Brussels believes the reforms hamper democratic freedom, but Poland says they are needed to root out corruption among judges.

Last month, the CJEU ordered Warsaw to pay one million Euros a day for not suspending a controversial "disciplinary chamber" at the heart of the bitter feud between Warsaw and Brussels.

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro hit back that "Poland cannot and should not pay a single zloty".

The European Commission is also holding back approval of 36 billion euros ($41 billion) Poland wants from EU coronavirus recovery funds because of Warsaw's perceived roll-back of democratic norms.

The heads of the European Parliament's main political groupings have written a joint letter to Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen urging that the money stay blocked until Poland yields.

"A government that denies the primacy of EU law and violates the principles of the Rule of Law cannot be deemed trustworthy of fulfilling the commitments and obligations under our legal instruments," they wrote.