| Author (Corporate) | Cardiff EDC (Compiler) |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2019 |
| Content Type | Blog & Commentary, News, Overview |
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Summary: Information Guide concerning Cases C-585/18, C-624/18 and C-625/18 from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), concerning the independence of the Disciplinary Chamber of Poland's Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy). Further information: In 2017, the Polish authorities introduced a comprehensive reform of its justice system. Among the changes was the lowering of the retirement age for judges of the country's Supreme Court. This measure were later held by the CJEU as contrary to EU law as they are inconsistent with the principles of the irremovability of judges and judicial independence. These measures led to actions being brought by three judges before the Supreme Court's Chamber of Labour Law and Social Security. While later amendments to the law allowed judges to remain in post or reinstated if already serving as members of the Supreme Court when the law entered into force - as was the case with the applicants - the referring court considered it was still faced with a problem of a procedural nature. Although such actions would fall within jurisdiction of the newly created Disciplinary Chamber, the referring court asked the CJEU whether such chamber offered sufficient guarantees of independence under EU law to hear such claims. In November 2018, the CJEU President granted the requests to deal with the present cases under the accelerated procedure. In June 2019, the Court's Advocate General issued an Opinion considering that the Disciplinary Chamber does not satisfy the requirements of judicial independence established by EU law. On 19 November 2019, the Court's Grand Chamber decided that the referring court must ascertain whether the Disciplinary Chamber is independent in order to determine whether the chamber has jurisdiction to rule on cases where judges of the Supreme Court have been retired. |
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| Subject Categories | Employment and Social Affairs, Justice and Home Affairs, Law |
| Subject Tags | EU Law, Fundamental | Human Rights, Judicial Reform, National Law | Legal Systems |
| Keywords | CJEU Judgements, EU Charter of Fundamental Rights |
| International Organisations | European Union [EU] |
