European Court of Justice fines Poland 1 million Euros per day over judicial spat with EU

The European Union's (EU) top court, the European Court of Justice has penalised Poland with €1 million per day for disobeying a ruling to stop disputed judicial reforms. Poland was instructed earlier this year to suspend a contentious disciplinary chamber which the EU believed was breaching EU law but has failed to do so. The tumultuous relationship of Poland with the EU is further undermining the independence of Poland's constitutional court. Further, Polish government spokesperson Piotr Muller has condemned the harsh punishment by the EU and termed it as "blackmail", BBC reported.  

As per CNN, in a July ruling, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said that the chamber did not “provide all the guarantees of impartiality and independence and, in particular, [was] not protected from the direct or indirect influence of the Polish legislature and executive.” 

The Supreme Court of Poland's disciplinary chamber was established in the year 2018 to punish senior judges if required to battle against corruption, as per the Polish administration. But many claimed that as it has the capacity to sanction the content of independent judges' judgments, it is being used to penalise them, BBC reported. 

The daily penalty of €1 million on Poland to abolish disciplinary chamber

However, the Polish administration had promised in August that the disciplinary chamber would be abolished during the current judiciary reform which was anticipated to be implemented in the coming months but has yet to follow through. According to the ECJ, this daily penalty of €1 million would begin on Wednesday and will be applied every day until the Polish disciplinary chamber is removed. The European Commission had demanded the financial fine in September on Poland, and the judgment had increasingly heated debate between the Commission and Poland over the rule of law and judicial independence. 

The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki stated last week that his country was willing to negotiate problems with Brussels, but that it would not submit to "blackmail", which further raises worries of a future 'split' between Poland and the EU.   Furthermore, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland has ruled previously this month that some sections of EU law are incompatible with Polish law. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen cautioned Poland that the nation's challenge to EU law's primacy has jeopardised the bloc's core foundations and would not go unpunished.  

Meanwhile, on 21 October, the European Parliament had adopted a resolution asking the European Commission and the European Council to launch contravention procedures against Poland. After garnering 502 votes in favour of declaring Poland's Constitutional Tribunal "contested and illegitimate," the resolution was passed. According to Xinhua, , MEPs “deeply deplore” the Polish decision as "an attack on the European community of values and laws as a whole, undermining EU (European Union) law's primacy". 

(Image: AP)