The Constitutional Court postponed on Tuesday the decision on the EU measures that led the Court of Justice of the European Union to impose fines on Poland. The ruling on the amendment to the Supreme Court Act was also delayed to the same date in December.
Regarding the penalties against Poland by the CJEU, the full Constitutional Tribunal concluded its hearings on November 21 this year and deferred the ruling that had been set for November 30. Subsequently, the court announced that the verdict would be delivered on Tuesday, December 5, at 11 am.
Hearing postponed
Meanwhile, the hearing of the Full Session of the Constitutional Court on the amendment to the Law on the Supreme Court, requested by President Andrzej Duda, was originally scheduled for Wednesday, December 6 at 12.
Today, docket updates indicated that both matters were pushed to Monday, December 11. The decision on the CJEU sanctions is planned for 11, and the hearing on the Supreme Court law is set for 12.
Officials from the Constitutional Court explained to PAP that the date changes were due to a judge being on sick leave and an approved absence affecting one member of the court.
The court began examining the case concerning the EU sanctions on October 19 of the previous year. The full bench of the Constitutional Court is chaired by the court president, Julia Przyłębska, with Judge Zbigniew Jędrzejewski serving as rapporteur. The hearing schedule has been postponed several times since its opening.
Judgment of the CJEU
For months a dispute has surrounded the Constitutional Court regarding the tenure of Julia Przyłębska as president, complicating the court’s ability to assemble a full panel of at least eleven judges. By November 21 this year, eleven of the court’s fifteen judges had entered the chamber, meeting the threshold required for a sitting of the Full Court.
An application to review the sanctions on Poland filed in November 2021 was submitted by Attorney General Zbigniew Ziobro. He urged that EU rules concerning these matters be declared unconstitutional. The application followed the CJEU imposing two financial penalties on Poland in connection with the Turów mine and the previously established Supreme Court Disciplinary Chamber.
In his petition, Ziobro asked the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of Article 279 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, arguing that the CJEU allows financial sanctions for non-compliance with interim measures. He also challenged Article 39 of the CJEU Statute, which authorizes the CJEU president or a judge to impose interim measures on a member state regarding the structure and functioning of the country’s constitutional bodies.
Amending the Supreme Court Act
The plan to amend the Supreme Court Act was brought before the Constitutional Court in February this year. President Andrzej Duda referred the January amendment to the Rules of the Supreme Court to the Tribunal as part of a preventive review. Supporters of the amendment argued it would mark an important step toward unlocking European funds for the National Recovery Plan. The president urged the judges to hear the case promptly.
In his motion, the president asked the Constitutional Court to probe the constitutionality of several provisions related to the so-called independence test for judiciary, and the transfer of disciplinary and immunity cases from judges to the High Administrative Court. The motion also touched on matters such as the possibility of reopening legally closed disciplinary and immunity cases, and the 21-day vacatio legis set by the amendment.
The full panel in this case is chaired by the President of the Constitutional Court, Julia Przyłębska, with Judge Bartłomiej Sochański serving as rapporteur.
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Source: wPolityce