The Court of Justice of the European Union in the Case Law of the Polish Constitutional Court: The Current Breakdown in View of Polish Constitutional Jurisprudence Pre-2016 (original) (raw)

Shaping the Relationship Between the Polish Constitution and European Union Law in the Adjudication of the Constitutional Tribunal

Przegląd Prawa Konstytucyjnego

In the article, the issue of the relationship between the Polish Constitution and European Union law is analysed from the perspective of its shaping in the adjudication of the Constitutional Tribunal. Firstly, the constitutional regulations that define the relationship between the Constitution and EU law will be analysed. This part of the article also includes the issues relating to the legal basis of the most commonly used instrument that shapes this relationship – the EU-friendly interpretation of the Constitution. Secondly, the contexts in which the Constitutional Tribunal refers to EU law are examined. The case study that is undertaken focuses on the instruments that prevent conflicts between EU law and the Constitution, inter alia legislative and interpretative instruments. The application of these methods in recent controversial judgments Ref. no. P 20/07 and Ref. no. K 3/21 concerning the relationship between the Polish Constitution and the EU law will be analysed.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN POLAND

TORUŃSKIE STUDIA POLSKO-WŁOSKIE XV — STUDI POLACCO-ITALIANI DI TORUŃ XV , 2019

Poland, which along with Hungary, used to be regarded as the leading example of a successful transition to democracy, is now experiencing (along with Hungary) processes of the so-called “illiberal backsliding”. As, unlike in Hungary, the new parliamentary majority is too weak to control constitutional amendments, the process of changes is developing “next” to the principles and rules of the 1997 Constitution of Poland. This paper is focused on the presentation of the consecutive stages of the political absorption of the Court in 2015-2016 (I). It further considers the situation of the “new” Court in its post-2016 form (II), the main streams of criticism of the reform (III), the changes in the situation of the remaining segments of the judicial branch (IV), the reactions of the CJEU and ECtHR (V), and ends with few concluding remarks (VI)

Polish Constitutional Identity and the EU Challenges: European Law as a Tool for the Redrafting of the Polish Constitution

Studies of the Central European Professors’ Network, 2023

The paper aims at describing, in a synthetic but still systematic way, the impact that EU has for Polish legal system in general and constitutional order in particular. Considering category of the constitutional identity as determined in the jurisprudence of the Polish Constitutional Court, an attempt is made to demonstrate the way in which Polish constitutional order is altered beyond the procedures provided to this end by the Constitution and without proper involvement of the Polish Parliament. It is described, how delegation of certain powers to EU pursuant to specific provisions of the Polish Constitution has profoundly affected domestic balance of power between three branches in at least two different dimensions. However, regardless which dimension is concerned, it always results in the limitation of the powers of national legislature. This process demonstrates also decline of the modern politics and its displacement by its postmodern successor, where real political power is no-longer located on national level, but above, upon supra-national level.

Challenges to the Rule of Law in the European Union: the distressing case of Poland

Revista do Instituto Brasileiro de Direitos Humanos, 2018

The article analyzes the developments of the rule of law in Poland over last three years and discusses the current and possible future reaction of the European Union to a worrisome situation in one of its member states. It focuses on several questions. What are the reforms in Poland? Can the legal system defend itself against changes which are inconsistent with the Constitution? If not, why it retreated and ceased to be self-sufficient in this regard? What mechanisms of securing EU principles can be activated? How are they interrelated? To what extent have they already been used? Are they sufficient? These and other questions are raised in the light of the current situation in Poland. In its major part, the paper characterizes the action taken, and especially the legislative measures adopted by the ruling parliamentary majority. These measures lead to the de facto change of the system, incompatible with the current Constitution and the principle of the rule of law. The second part analyzes the instruments available within EU law in the context of Poland's membership in this supranational organization. (The paper is an advanced copy of an article published in No. 17/18 (2017/2018) of the Revista do Instituto Brasileiro de Direitos Humanos / Journal of the Brazilian Institute of Human Rights)

THE DEFINITION OF NATIONAL COURT WITHIN THE MEANING OF EUROPEAN UNION LAW. CONSIDERATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE POLISH REFORM OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM

The article deals with two main problems. The first concerns the interpretation of the concept of "court" within the meaning of the provisions of Art. 47 CFR and Art. 267 TFEU. The second part is devoted to the analysis of judgements of the Court of Justice regarding the reform of the Polish judicial system. It enables one to draw several conclusions. Firstly, the Court of Justice found that Poland had violated its Treaty obligations by introducing the provisions that determine the retirement age of judges and establish the procedure enabling the extension of active service by virtue of the discretion of the President of the Republic of Poland. Secondly, the Court of Justice analysed the concept of "court" from the perspective of Art. 19, para. 1, subpara. 2 TEU. It emphasised that these provisions obligate the Member States to establish a system of legal remedies and procedures ensuring effective judicial protection in areas covered by EU law. It also stressed that this concerns a body that can only potentially settle cases with an EU element. Thirdly, the Court of Justice clarified the concept of judicial independence in the context of irremovability of judges and judicial impartiality. It formulated a certain test of judicial independence that should be conducted by the referring court.

The Polish Constitutional Tribunal and the Europeanization of the Constitution.pdf

This article examines the process of the judicial Europeanization of the Polish Constitution. In Poland the judicial method of Europeanizing the Constitution is currently the primary way of adjusting constitutional norms to requirements resulting from EU law. The phenomenon of re-interpretation of constitutional provisions in light of the new and changing realities is a characteristic feature of contemporary constitutionalism. It has been a long time since most national constitutions have undergone significant textual changes. In Poland, the scope of judicial Europeanization of the Constitution is connected, to a great extent, with the inflexible procedure required for constitutional amendments. In this situation, these so-called “silent changes” of constitutional norms are the easiest and fastest way of reacting to requirements stemming from Poland’s EU membership. In the Polish case not only have the norms regarding the political system of the state changed, but also constitutional standards relating to the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms have undergone the process of the Europeanization. To some extent, these changes relate to procedural norms as well.

Judiciary Saga in Poland: An Affair Torn between European Standards and ECtHR Criteria

9 Polish Rev. Int'l & Eur. L. 39 (2020) , 2020

Judicial independence is a cornerstone of contemporary constitutional systems within European legal orders that Poland, among many other European States, codified the principle at a constitutional level through Article 173 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Nonetheless, the concrete implementation of the theoretical framework remains a bone of contention between the national States and the main international actors. The latter faction, based on the acknowledgement that no single political model could ideally comply with the principle of the separation of powers and secure complete independence of the judiciary, has developed an impressive number of legal tools that are part of a more diffuse European trend of interpretation, which should be labelled as European standard or European corpus aiming at preserving the judiciary order from outward interferences by the legislative and executive powers. In Poland, after the extensive victory earned by the Law and Justice (PIS) party in the Parliamentary election of 2015, the executive branch propelled a series of interlock reforms with the aim of reshuffling the whole judicial asset of the country. In the first place, the way forward was marked by a compound diatribe concerning the Constitutional Tribunal, and the essence of the dispute concerned the mandate’s legitimacy of three sitting judges after the Court’s reinterpretation of the K 34/15 ruling that ended up on 2.12.2015 with the election of five new judges appointed ex novo by the ruling party. Afterwards, the attention shifted towards the rethinking of the National Council of Judiciary (KRS), a mixed judicial body guardian of the independence of the judiciary, asserting, firstly, the unconstitutionality of its statute and, subsequently, planning a new method of appointment for the judicial members previously elected by the judiciary itself. Ultimately, as a closing step, the spotlight turned in the direction of the Supreme Courts judges, where the most spectacular sweep was the provision aimed at lowering the retirement age for the sitting judges on a scheme similar to the proposal made by the Hungarian government in 2011, where voices were raised, respectively, by the Hungarian Constitutional Court, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, and where, regretfully, the judicial independence standard played a minor role in the Courts’ reasoning. This concluding phase convinced the Commission to launch an expedited procedure against Poland before the Court of Justice, thus forcing the Polish government to retracts previous law through the adoption of a repealing law on 17.12.2018; in any event, as predicted earlier by the Opinion delivered by the AG Tanchev in Case C-619/18, the ECJ epilogue released on 24.6.2019, dissimilar to the one reached in the Hungarian case, was the heaviest ‘contrariness to EU law’.

The Impact of EU law on National Judiciaries: Polish Administrative Courts and their Participation in the Process of Legal Integration in the EU

German Law Journal, 2011

Since May 2004 Polish administrative courts have passed a great deal of judgments in which the law of the European Union (formerly European Community law) has played either the main role or a subsidiary role in the proceedings. This article seeks to examine how the above-mentioned courts comply with the expectations which are put on them by EU law and how they participate in the process of legal integration within the EU. In this context, the author scrutinizes how the national judiciary adjudicating in the administrative law area understands, interprets, employs and applies the systemic principles of EU law such as: supremacy, and (in) direct effect and effectiveness. In addition, the participation of national courts in the process of a dialogue with the Court of Justice of the European Union through the preliminary ruling procedure is captured. The analysis is not aimed at being exhaustive and focuses solely on the total impact of EU law on the national judiciary and the general t...