14 October 2021
A Closing of Ranks
On 11 and 12 October the Court of Justice of the European Union sat in Full Court composition (a rarity) to hear Hungary’s and Poland’s challenge of the legality of the rule of law conditionality regulation. Its ruling will follow (hopefully shortly) the Advocate-General’s Opinion announced for 2 December 2021. It will most likely reconfirm that the Union legal order is based on clear and binding rule of law norms, and that these must, of legal necessity, apply across all EU policy fields, including the EU budget. It will be a judgment of great significance about the very nature and purpose of the EU. Continue reading >>
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03 March 2021
Misjudging Judges
5231 magistrates from all over the EU had signed a letter to call the EU Commission to urgent action regarding the rule of law situation in Poland, Hungary and other member states. Unbelievably, Commissioners Reynders and Jourová, in their reply to the judges’ letter that transpired on 1 March, managed to make matters considerably worse. Continue reading >>02 December 2020
A Momentous Day for the Rule of Law
Five Member States led by example by following the Commission’s lead in defending Union law. That is how the EU system was designed to function. Add a simultaneous important ruling of the Strasbourg Court and an unprecedented Dutch parliamentary motion, and this was an important day for rule of law protection in the EU. Continue reading >>06 October 2020
The Plaintiff who turned into a Prosecutor
Readers of this blog are familiar with how the Polish government, led by the Law and Justice party (PiS) and the institutions it controls, is trying to silence Professor Wojciech Sadurski in a coordinated campaign of lawsuits (see here, here, here and here). On Friday 2 October 2020, he was again in court. This time for his third case: a criminal lawsuit brought by TVP, the public but de facto purely pro-government TV-station. Continue reading >>01 October 2020
Today Tuleya, Tomorrow the EU
Igor Tuleya is someone you should know. He is your judge, wherever you live in the EU. More specifically, he is a judge at the District Court in Warsaw. Next Monday, on October 5th 2020, he may lose his judicial immunity as a result of a hearing before the “Disciplinary Chamber” of the Polish Supreme Court. If this happens, he will likely face subsequent criminal charges, and, as a consequence, a very real risk of imprisonment. If this happens, it will affect every independent and impartial judge in Poland. If this happens, it will affect every EU citizen too. Continue reading >>
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24 September 2020
What’s in the Words
It is plain worrisome when judges need to end up at the European Court of Justice on the argument that what they have available at home is no longer a proper court. 22 September 2020 was such a day for two veritable Polish and therefore European judges: Judge Waldemar Żurek and Judge Monika Frąckowiak. More than a legal fight, it is a battle of and for ideas, playing out – literally – in open court. Continue reading >>03 June 2020
Repression of Freedom of Expression in Poland: Renewing support for Wojciech Sadurski
In pre-COVID19 times we drew attention (here and here) to the fact that our colleague, Professor Wojciech Sadurski, faces multiple civil and criminal cases in Poland resulting from his tweets which were critical of the ruling party. The cases were brought against him by the current government and its associates. Unfortunately, COVID19 has evidently not changed their priorities Continue reading >>19 April 2020
Domestic Courts Pushing for a Workable Test to Protect the Rule of Law in the EU
On 17 February 2020, the Oberlandesgericht Karlsruhe passed a decision in a surrender case that we expect to shape the future of the LM-test. Its decision can be seen not only as a result of Luxembourg’s unworkable LM test but also as an acknowledgement of the effect of Poland’s muzzle law on the independence of its judiciary. Shortly after, Rechtbank Amsterdam engaged with this decision, thus making it more likely that the CJEU will have to move forward and develop its test into a more meaningful one. Continue reading >>18 April 2020
Luxembourg’s Unworkable Test to Protect the Rule of Law in the EU
A key rule of law case illustrating the conversation taking place between national judges and the Court of Justice about the how-to of rule of law protection is the CJEU’s LM ruling dealing with the implementation of the European Arrest Warrant. In it the CJEU developed a test to balance mutual trust and individual rights, particularly the right to a fair trial. The Rechtbank Amsterdam and the Karlsruhe Oberlandesgericht applied Luxembourg’s LM test with respect to Polish suspects in a series of recent (interlocutory) rulings. This national case-law is interesting both for its immediate outcome (suspension of surrenders) and its implicit message to Luxembourg: “Sorry, we tried, but your test is unworkable.” Continue reading >>
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10 March 2020