CJEU halves daily penalty on Poland in judiciary dispute

The European Union’s top court has halved the daily fine imposed on Poland in a dispute over judicial reforms to EUR 500,000, it said on Friday, adding that Warsaw had “to a large extent” implemented the required reforms.

Rule of law mechanism bypasses and replaces EU treaties: EU Affairs Minister

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In 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Poland’s system for disciplining judges was incompatible with the bloc’s laws and then imposed a daily fine of EUR one million for Warsaw’s failure to implement its ruling to dissolve the disciplinary chamber.

Poland has now dissolved the chamber and replaced it with a new body.

“The [CJEU] Vice-President considered that the measures introduced by Poland... may, to a large extent, ensure the implementation of the interim measures indicated in the decision of July 14, 2021,” the court said in a statement.

Back in January, Polish President Andrzej Duda said during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the EU should cease its criticism of Poland for alleged rule-of-law issues when it has itself been unable to stop corruption in its own ranks.

He referred to Qatargate, a corruption scandal in which senior European Parliament officials, including the body’s vice president, have been accused of accepting bribes in return for lobbying for the interests of Qatar and Morocco.

“First of all, representatives of EU and European institutions should finally stop throwing around the rule-of-law platitudes which, as one can see, do not have much to do with their own actions,” he stressed.