Independence of judges: EU Court of Justice sentences Poland to a fine of one million euros p – franceinfo

A new episode in the heavy dispute between the EU and Poland on the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary for several months. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ordered Warsaw, Wednesday, October 27, to pay the European Commission a fine of one million euros per day for not having put an end to the activities of the disciplinary chamber of the Polish Supreme Court.

This institution is accused by Brussels of undermining the autonomy of Polish magistrates. It is in this context that Brussels had asked the CJEU to financially sanction Poland, September 7. In a first reaction, Sebastien Kaleta, Secretary of State for Justice, accused the CJEU of“override and abuse” of its powers in matters of financial sanctions.

On July 14, the EU Court of Justice ordered the immediate cessation of the activities of the disciplinary chamber of the Polish Supreme Court. But Poland did not respect this decision, which led the European executive to call on the European justice to impose sanctions, believing that “the EU’s judicial systems must be independent and fair”.

The head of the Polish nationalist conservative government, Mateusz Morawiecki, has pledged to abolish the disciplinary chamber, the abolition of which had already been announced in August by Warsaw, but which continues to function.

“Compliance with the provisional measures ordered on July 14 is necessary in order to avoid serious and irreparable damage to the legal order of the European Union as well as to the values ​​on which this union is based, in particular that of the State of law”, said the CJEU, based in Luxembourg, on Wednesday.