In Poland, the Supreme Court has partially suspended the disciplinary body for judges, stating that no further cases can be submitted to it for the time being.
This is intended to moderate the worsening dispute with the European Union over the independence of the Polish judiciary.
Otherwise the government in Warsaw faces fines or the loss of financial aid from the EU.
The disciplinary chamber was introduced by the government under the leadership of the national conservative law and justice party as part of a controversial judicial reform. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on July 15 that the new law did not meet all requirements for the impartiality and independence of judges. In particular, these are not protected from the influence of the government or parliament.
Poland's Supreme Court, however, declared all interim injunctions by the ECJ to be unconstitutional, and Poland should therefore not obey them. In two rulings published late Thursday, the President of the Supreme Court of Poland, Małgorzata Manowska, stated that no new cases will go to the Chamber until legislative changes are introduced or the ECJ delivers a final ruling on the matter. Applications that have already been submitted will still be processed.
Immediately after the ECJ ruling on the disciplinary body was pronounced, the Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro initially said that “decisions of this kind” did not affect Poland. But in addition to fines, the EU Commission could also temporarily withhold the disbursement of the funds from the Corona reconstruction fund, as it did in the case of Hungary. Poland is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Corona Reconstruction Fund. And if the ECJ approves the new rule of law mechanism in the autumn, which is considered likely, it will even have the option of withdrawing significant funds from Poland.