Important order of @EUCourtPress: Poland must immediately suspend the application of the national provisions on the powers of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court with regard to disciplinary cases concerning judges. Thread about the context. 1/n
https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2020-04/cp200047en.pdf

In 2017, Poland adopted a new disciplinary regime for judges of the Supreme Court. Under that legislative reform, a new Chamber, the Disciplinary Chamber, was created within the Supreme Court, has jurisdiction over disciplinary cases concerning judges of the Supreme Court and 2/n

on appeal, those concerning judges of the ordinary courts. The members of this Chamber are selected by the National Council of the Judiciary, which members are elected by the Polish Parliament, and therefore by the majority, instead of being elected by their peers. 3/n

This raises obvious concerns as to the independence of the National Council of Judiciary, which for this reason has been suspended for the European Network of judicial councils ( https://www.encj.eu/node/495 ), and therefore of the Disciplinary Chamber. 4/n

This question had already been addressed to the Court in November 2019 ( https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2019-11/cp190145en.pdf) but since this case had been referred to the Court by a national court, the Court of Justice merely expressed serious doubts as to the independence of the Disciplinary Chamber but 5/n

let the final determination on this matter to the Supreme Court, which was the referring Court. The Polish Supreme Court, on the basis of the indications given by the Court of justice, found that the Disciplinary Chamber was not independent. 6/n

However, the Govt ignored this finding and, instead, decided to pass a law (dubbed “muzzle law”) which reinforces even further the disciplinary liability of polish judges. 7/n

By contrast, the present order is related to an infringement proceeding initiated by the Commission in October 2019. 8/n

Unlike the Nov. 2019 case, the Court cannot shy away and must make a final determination as to whether the polish disciplinary regime infringes the principle of independence, which is a component of the principle of the rule of law, a value protected by Art. 2 of the treaty 9/n

This order is an interim measure, which means that it is not final but just a temporary measure to be respected until the end of the proceedings. 10/n

It means however that the Court finds the arguments of the Commission serious enough, and the threat to the independence of Polish judges urgent enough, to adopt a suspension measure. 11/n

Accordingly, the Disciplinary Chamber must immediately suspend its operation until the final ruling of the Court. If Poland does not respect this order, it can be condemned to financial penalties. END