According to the top court of the European Union, Poland’s Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court is not considered an independent tribunal under EU law. This Chamber, which was established as part of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party’s reforms of the judiciary, is responsible for ruling on the validity of national elections, including those held on Oct. 15, which resulted in PiS losing power.
These reforms have faced criticism from both critics and European institutions, with the EU freezing billions of euros in funds for Poland due to concerns about the rule of law.
There are efforts to undo these changes and gain access to the frozen funds as soon as possible, with a new pro-European government led by Donald Tusk, former European Council president, at the helm.
The Court of Justice of the EU concluded in its ruling that the appointment of judges to the Chamber under the new PiS rules was illegal. As a result, a request for a preliminary ruling from the Chamber was deemed inadmissible. The Court stated that “Due to circumstances relating to the appointment of the judges of the Extraordinary Control and Judicial Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court, the formation of that Chamber is not a ‘court’ within the meaning of EU law.” It also noted that as a result, the Court would not examine the substance of the questions referred by that body.
(Reporting by Anna Włodarczak-Semczuk, Editing by Bernadette Baum)
