TJ on Poland’s judges and their independence

The mere fact that a Polish judge started his career under communism does not raise doubts about his independence. The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday. The judges in Luxembourg stressed that the fact that the judges were appointed there at a time when the country was not yet a democracy did not cause problems for Poland’s accession to the European Union. However, Warsaw managed to commit to values ​​such as the rule of law.

Tuesday’s verdict is based on a civil dispute in the Supreme Court. Ali wondered whether the three appellate judges who had previously handled the case had met the requirements of the EU’s independence and impartiality law. One of them began his career under the communist regime and did not take another oath after it ended. The other two were appointed judges of appeal between 2000 and 2018, when the National Council of Justice involved was not transparent and its composition was unconstitutional, according to the Polish Constitutional Court. Thus, the Supreme Court suspended the case and addressed the European Court of Justice with preliminary questions.

He has now decided that just working under communism would not call judicial independence into question. With regard to the other two judges, the Court noted that the Constitutional Court of Poland had not ruled on the independence of the Judicial Council. The judgment of the constitutional judges is not enough to question the judges.

These are clarifications with which the Court contests the regular arguments of the Polish Government. This is especially true of judges who began their careers under communism. The national-conservative PiS government has always tried to justify its so-called judicial reform by claiming that it is purging the judiciary of the remnants of communist dictatorship. The Luxembourg judges have now made it clear that the general claims cannot justify any doubts about independence. Need concrete clues.