Poland Sets Conditions for Complying With EU Rule-of-Law Verdict

(Bloomberg) -- Poland’s prime minister set conditions under which the government will respect next week’s ruling of the European Union’s highest tribunal about the country’s contested judicial reforms.

Premier Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday that the verdict must conform with the bloc’s treaties as well as Poland’s constitution to trigger reaction from the government. While EU members are obliged to carry out the verdicts of the EU court, Poland asserts that the bloc doesn’t have the jurisdiction to vet its changes to the country’s justice system.

In a ruling set for Nov. 19, the European Court of Justice will decide whether a new disciplinary chamber of Poland’s Supreme Court, created as part of the government’s judicial overhauls and contested by the EU, is sufficiently autonomous from politicians.

The verdict could have wider implications for the sweeping court changes introduced in Poland since 2016. The EU’s executive has repeatedly sued the formerly communist nation for what it sees as breeches in judicial independence that undermine the rule of law.

“I’m counting that the tribunal’s verdict will be in line with EU law, which says that the block should respect different legal systems,” Morawiecki told state news agency PAP. “Unfortunately, the tribunal recently started breaking this rule and gave itself competences which are not written into treaties.”

He said Poland “will carry out any judgment that’s in line with treaties and the constitution,” adding that this is in line with how “other” EU members also deal with such issues.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Wojciech Moskwa, Michael Winfrey

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