This is the second time in as many days that the Luxembourg court has ruled on the Polish penal system. Today’s ruling refers to the legislation as it existed when the committee brought the case, but in the meantime the legislation has become much stricter.
The committee also filed before the court against this emphasis. Yesterday, it decided to suspend the activity of the disciplinary chamber until a verdict is issued in the second case.
Whether that will happen is highly questionable. Also in the first case – to which today’s ruling relates – the court had previously requested the suspension of the application of the contested legislation. Thus, the sanctions regime is becoming more and more vain.
Moreover, the Polish Constitutional Court said yesterday that European Court of Justice decisions on Warsaw’s judicial reforms were “unconstitutional”. Poland has been at odds with the European Commission for years over the reforms implemented by the right-wing populist government, but with this ruling, Warsaw now appears to be undermining the primacy of European law over national law, one of the core principles of the European Union.
