04 February 2021
Judiciaries Must Build Support in Societies
The continuous attack on the judiciary in Poland, starting with the subjugation of the Constitutional Court, have shown that legal safeguards provide only an illusionary protection in case both the national legislator and the Constitutional Court have been taken over by politicians who do not believe in the rule of law. Why is it relatively easy for governments to push judiciaries over? They have a fundamental weakness: their lack of connection with society. Judiciaries have a strong tendency to solely rely on legal protections, instead of also on public support. Continue reading >>
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30 January 2021
A Bolsonarist Cat Among the Pigeons
While the election of Kassio Nunes Marques in September 2020 was initially met with relief by some as he had no known links to the government, the new justice of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) has since demonstrated his fidelity to the president that elected him. This could play a significant role in the future of Brazil given his likely being the deciding vote in an upcoming case on the existing conviction of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Continue reading >>26 January 2021
Witch Hunt against 14 Cracow Judges
Judges who have examined cases related to the reinstatement of Prosecutor Mariusz Krasoń have been and are being persecuted for their purely judicial actions. Krasoń called attention to the politicization of the prosecutor’s office in a May 2019 resolution adopted by the Assembly of Prosecutors of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Cracow. As a result he was demoted, harassed, and his workplace was moved around 300 km from his residence. Over the last two months, the Internal Affairs Department of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office has summoned as witnesses 14 judges from five different benches of Cracow’s district, regional and appellate courts. The judges now face potential criminal charges of failure to fulfil obligations as public officials, punishable by up to three years of imprisonment (Art. 231(1) of the Penal Code). Their purported crime? Failing to persecute Prosecutor Krasoń. Continue reading >>21 January 2021
False Dilemma
On 29 December 2020, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President of Ukraine, suspended the Constitutional Court’s Chairman Oleksandr Tupytskyi from office by Decree 607/2020. This step is part of his ongoing conflict with the Constitutional Court caused by Decision 13r-2020 of the Constitutional Court in late October 2020. Although the rule of law is being undermined in this conflict this is not due to the false dilemma between the rule of law and the fight against corruption as purported by the president. Continue reading >>
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05 December 2020
A Damaged Court Causing a Constitutional Crisis
In late October 2020, Ukraine’s Constitutional Court found major elements of Ukraine’s legal framework on combatting corruption unconstitutional. The decision was met with so much backlash that the rule of law in Ukraine is now at stake. Additionally, it has caused a deep rift within the Constitutional Court itself, which is currently unable to take decisions as a number of justices refuse to participate in proceedings. The decision has thus not only undermined the ongoing efforts to fight corruption but has thrown Ukraine into a veritable constitutional crisis. Continue reading >>
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02 December 2020
A New Nail in the Coffin for the 2017 Polish Judicial Reform
On 1 December the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR gave an important ruling that may have wide-reaching implications for the ongoing attempts to curb the rule of law backsliding in Poland and other countries. The case addresses the appointment of judges, and the way this affects the status of a court as a “tribunal established by law” in the meaning of Article 6 of the ECHR. 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 >>30 November 2020
Time Is of the Essence
The announced veto of the Hungarian and Polish governments on the EU multi-annual budget and the European recovery fund has caused a major stir in recent days in Europe. The conditionality mechanism is designed to safeguard the Union’s financial interests and complements the existing political and judicial mechanisms. It is expedient to review the state of play of the procedures in place and, if necessary, to pose questions, whether they stand up to the challenges posed by developments in the respective countries, if they are carried out in a timely manner and focus on genuine effectiveness. Continue reading >>
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26 November 2020