DThe Polish Constitutional Court began to review on Tuesday whether national laws should ultimately take precedence over EU laws. Specifically, the question is whether some clauses in the EU treaty are consistent with the Polish Constitution. Among them, this involves the question of whether Polish courts are allowed to allow the European Court of Justice to examine whether judges appointed by the Polish president are “independent” in the sense of EU law. This is also a question of whether the European Court of Justice (ECJ) can force the country to abolish some of the controversial judicial reforms promoted by the right-wing ruling party PiS. It is expected that there will be a judgment in the interest of the government.
Their critics believe that the possibility of confirming that national law takes precedence over EU law is a step towards Polexit — a development that may be the result of Poland’s withdrawal from the EU or its legal system. Prime Minister Matteus Moravic convened the Constitutional Court at the end of March 2020 to determine the primacy of the Polish Constitution. Morawiecki said he thinks the court will confirm this. In early June, European Commissioner of Justice Didier Reendez asked Warsaw to withdraw the application.
On Tuesday, a few demonstrators holding EU flags waited in front of the Warsaw Constitutional Court. But in the afternoon, the court interrupted the meeting until Thursday. Prior to the four-hour debate, the outgoing Polish Ombudsman (Civil Rights Representative) Adam Bodnar may make a major appearance for the last time. Together with two employees, he spent about two hours speaking and proposing three proposals.
Only one of the five judges is not on the government line
In one of them, he called on the court to conduct a full trial based on the importance of the issues discussed-not just a trial by five judges as planned. The chairman of the Constitutional Court Julia Prilebska sometimes becomes nervous, interrupting him and rejecting his application. The courts are now apparently dominated by judges who have close ties to the government, including Prilebska. Only one-fifth of the judges in the current ruling house are considered independent of the government camp.
Every Tuesday
Lawyer Krzysztof Szczucki spoke on behalf of the applicant Morawiecki. He spoke in accordance with the principle of the supremacy of national law. According to the European Treaty, the European Court of Justice does not have the power to allocate powers to the courts of member states-for example in the sense of reviewing and appointing judges. This can also be seen in the constitution. “A constitution that is not the supreme legal act of the country is meaningless. According to the constitution, foreign institutions shall not be granted the power to make decisions that are detrimental to the constitution itself or decisions made in accordance with the constitution. If the EU is not a federation like it is today, a In supranational countries, the situation will be different. “However, “the EU has no political, social or legal approval.”
However, the latest case law of the European Court of Justice aims to expand the scope of powers of it and some EU institutions, “contrary to the treaty, and runs counter to the idea of European integration.” “The member states are the masters of the treaty. There is no doubt about this.” This principle is also reflected in the case law of the constitutional courts of several member states.
Critics call for fines
EU Justice Commissioner Reendez told the Financial Times on Tuesday that considering Poland’s decision, there is a risk of “a real threat to the entire structure of our union”. He also mentioned the European Central Bank’s ruling in Germany, and the Federal Constitutional Court ignored the European Court’s ruling. Reynders warned: “If it does not stop, different member states will have more and more opportunities to challenge the primacy of EU law and the powers of the European Court of Justice.”
Blink at the fence post: If the court subordinates EU law to the Polish constitution as required by the Polish government, Brussels will definitely initiate an infringement lawsuit. In addition, Parliament and some member states will face increasing pressure to impose financial sanctions on Warsaw for the first time.
Poland’s previous procedures for violations of the rule of law have not brought any fundamental changes. This applies to the Article 7 procedure for the review of the rule of law and several infringement suits, all of which the Commission won in the European Court of Justice. Critics accuse the European Commission of not using the option of applying for a fine to the European Court of Justice if Poland does not comply with its decision. The Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court declared it illegal in an interim order of April 2020. In this case, the final judgment of the Grand Court of the European Court of Justice will be issued this Thursday.
