Poland, EU court renounces Supreme Court control section. “Not independent or previously established by law”

Brussels – An adjudicating panel of the Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs Chamber of the Supreme Court “does not constitute an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law.” The Court of Justice of the European Union again rejects Poland’s  justice reform and renounces the Polish Supreme Court’s Extraordinary Review and Public Matters Chamber. This time, the Luxembourg Court censured measures imposed on Polish magistrates in 2017 and, more specifically, on the Polish National Council of the Judiciary (KRS). Amendments and composition of the KRS “have called into question the independence of that body with regard to the legislature and the executive, thereby affecting its ability to put forward independent and impartial candidates for judicial posts at the Supreme Court.”

The result is a body that has no say in the matter. The Extraordinary and Public Matters Review Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court approached the EU Court of Justice to ask whether a judge who has reached retirement age can be allowed to continue practicing. “The questions put by that chamber do not originate from a body having the status of an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law as required by EU law,”  the Luxembourg judges rule, declaring  “inadmissible” the questions brought to the attention of the EU’s justice body.