Poland in EU Cross-Hairs Again Over Curbing Judges’ Powers

(Bloomberg) -- Poland was accused by the European Union of undermining judicial independence and violating the bloc’s rules in another sweeping rebuke of Warsaw’s controversial reforms to the legal system.

The EU’s executive authority warned on Wednesday that Poland may be abusing it’s new disciplinary regime for judges as “a system of political control” of the content of the court rulings.

The European Commission said it’s started legal action that could pave the way for yet another lawsuit against Poland over rule-of-law issues at the bloc’s courts in Luxembourg.

Ignoring the rulings of its own Supreme Court, Poland passed a law last year to punish judges for following EU legal procedures. Some 60 Polish judges have been the target of the disciplinary authorities, according to a report by the Polish judges’ association. Punitive measures range from probes and pay cuts to forced transfers and attacks on social media.

Twitter Attack

Poland hit back at the decision, with Deputy State Assets Minister Janusz Kowalski directly attacking Vera Jourova, a commission vice-president dealing with the rule of law, in a Twitter post.

“I’d like you to focus on substantive work for the good of the EU, for which you are paid,” he said.

The EU’s top court earlier this month already ordered Poland to “immediately suspend” the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court, the key element of its contested regime for judges, while a separate suit from the commission is pending.

The Brussels-based commission sued Poland in October over concerns that the nation’s new measures don’t protect judges from political control. The cases are part of a series of probes into the rule of law and democratic standards. Poland refuses to comply with the order on the Supreme Court chamber.

“It’s a welcome development but also a strict minimum one could expect from the guardian of the EU Treaties concerning a Soviet-inspired law adopted in blatant breach of the Polish constitution, which fundamentally endangers the EU legal order,” said Laurent Pech, a professor of European law at Middlesex University in London.

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