[ad_1]
The Polish constitutional court ruled this week that the temporary injunctions issued by the highest court of the European Union against the Polish judicial system, in conflict with the country’s constitution, are not binding.
Legal observers interpreted the Polish Constitutional Court’s ruling as a move by the right-wing Polish government to undermine the power of EU laws in the country and even move away from the 27-nation bloc. Poland joined the EU in 2004, agreeing to abide by its rules and laws.
“The refusal to apply the judgments of the European Court of Justice in Poland is a clear step towards Poland’s exit from the European Union,” said Jeroen Lenaers, Member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands.
“We are concerned that the Polish government is on the path to Polexit,” Lenaers said.
The European Commission said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” by the “decision of the Polish Constitutional Court, which declares that the interim measures ordered by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the area of the functioning of justice , are incompatible with the Polish Constitution “, adding that the action” reaffirms our concerns about the state of the rule of law in Poland “.
The Constitutional Court declared that even though Poland is a member of the EU, national questions concerning the judicial and judicial system remain the exclusive competence of Polish authorities and law.
“Lawless interference”
Former EU Council President Donald Tusk said on Twitter that “it is not Poland, but (ruling party leader Jaroslaw) Kaczynski who is leaving the EU with his party”.
“Only we Poles can effectively oppose it,” said Tusk, the former Polish prime minister who recently made a political comeback.
Outgoing human rights ombudsperson Adam Bodnar said the verdict amounted to telling Europe’s highest court that Poland would not implement its rulings.
But Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who is behind the controversial changes to the justice system, hailed the decision saying it upholds Polish constitutional order “against unlawful interference and aggression by the law from European bodies “.
Wednesday’s decision was sparked by a 2020 interim ruling from the European Court of Justice which ordered the suspension of a new chamber at the Supreme Court of Poland that was created to discipline judges and prosecutors.
Political control
Critics see the chamber as a tool to sanction those who criticize the changes the government has made to the justice system since taking office in 2015. The government insists the changes are needed to free the justice system from lingering influences of the communist era, but critics say they just put the justice system under political control.
The changes have put Poland on a collision course with the EU that has triggered sanction proceedings, and Wednesday’s decision only adds to the conflict.
The European Court has issued temporary injunctions suspending the disciplinary chamber while it drafts an opinion on whether the body violates EU law. But some members of the chamber protested the court’s interim ruling to the Constitutional Tribunal, which is largely made up of government loyalists.
Just hours before the Warsaw judgment, the deputy head of the European Court stressed the urgent need for Poland to suspend the disciplinary chamber.
The Constitutional Court is expected to rule soon on the primacy of EU law over the Polish constitution. Wednesday’s ruling was seen as an indication of how the court’s judges might rule.
Hungary under attack
Hungary is also under fire from the EU. Earlier this week, the EU took legal action against Hungary and Poland to defend LGBTQ + rights.
Hungary is also coming under increasing criticism from the EU after signing an agreement to open a Chinese university campus in Budapest by 2024.
The deal would make the Shanghai-based Fudan University campus the first Chinese university campus in the European Union.
Critics of the plan say the massive investment places an undue financial burden on Hungarian taxpayers, and is indicative of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s closer ties with the autocracies in Moscow and Beijing.
Government documents obtained in April by the Hungarian center for investigative journalism Direkt36 show that the pre-tax construction costs of the 64-acre campus are estimated at $ 1.8 billion, more than what Hungary spent on it. entire higher education system in 2019.
(With agencies)
Source link
