EU seeks penalty on Poland in judicial independence row

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Commission on Tuesday decided to request the EU Court of Justice to impose financial penalties on Poland over the activities of the country’s Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Chamber.

This came amid the long-standing dispute between the EU and Warsaw over the Polish judicial reforms that curb judicial independence and undermine the primacy of EU law, according to critics.

The EU executive body decided to take further legal steps because Warsaw did not comply with the EU court’s July ruling related to the functioning of the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Chamber.

“The Commission is asking the Court to impose a daily penalty payment on Poland for as long as the measures imposed by the Court's order are not fully implemented,” the EU’s executive body said in a statement.

On July 14, the EU Court of Justice ordered to suspend certain powers of the Disciplinary Chamber related to the immunity, social security, employment and retirement of judges, as well as to suspend the effect of already taken decisions.

On July 15, the court also ruled that the Polish disciplinary regime is incompatible with EU law since it undermines the judicial independence of Polish judges and it does not ensure the necessary guarantees to protect judges from political control.

Following the EU Court rulings, the Polish government promised to dissolve the Disciplinary Chamber but they did not proceed with it.