EU launches judicial freedom case against Poland

The EU on Wednesday launched a new legal challenge against reforms in Poland that Brussels says threaten judicial independence. The move is the latest round in a long-running tussle between the European Commission -- the bloc’s executive -- and right-wing governments in Eastern Europe it accuses of undermining fundamental EU values.

Wednesday’s case is the fourth lodged by commission against Warsaw since the conservative government there began seeking new oversight over judges’ work and careers. Some of the reforms have been already been softened or rolled back, but the Polish government is pushing ahead with new disciplinary rules opposed by Brussels.

A commission statement said the latest "infringement procedure" was "designed to safeguard the independence of judges in Poland" against "political control". It was announced by Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova, who travelled to Poland in January to raise concerns with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s government.

"Member states can reform their judiciary, but they have to do it without breaching the EU treaties," she told reporters during a Brussels video briefing. "There are clear risks that the provisions regarding the disciplinary regime against judges can be used for political control of the content of judicial decisions, among others.

"This is a European issue, because Polish courts apply European law. Judges from other countries must trust that Polish judges act independently. "This mutual trust is the foundation of our single market," she warned, giving Warsaw two months to respond to an action that "can not have come as a surprise".

According to the commission, the law "increases the number of cases in which the content of judicial decisions can be qualified as a disciplinary offence. "As a result, the disciplinary regime can be used as a system of political control of the content of judicial decisions." In a sign of unease, a German court in February refused to extradite a suspect to Poland, citing fears that the judicial reforms might deprive him of a fair trial.

Three infringement procedures have already been launched against Poland since 2017. The first two, concerning retirement conditions for judges of the ordinary courts and the Supreme Court, were upheld by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

In the third case, concerning the new rules for judges, the court ordered Poland on April 8 to suspend the new disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court, pending a final ruling. The head of the Polish Supreme Court, Malgorzata Gersdorf, ordered the suspension, but the decision was challenged and the matter referred to the Constitutional Court.

The European Commission has also initiated a procedure under Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland in 2017, which in theory can lead to political sanctions. This mechanism, provided for in the event of a "serious breach" of the rule of law in an EU member, has also been activated, this time by the European Parliament, against Viktor Orban’s Hungary.