Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 18, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
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The EU court ruled that Poland's Constitutional Tribunal violated EU law principles, questioning its independence due to judge appointment irregularities.
WARSAW, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Poland's Constitutional Tribunal infringed fundamental principles of European law and cannot be considered independent and impartial because of irregularities in the appointment of judges, the European Union's top court ruled on Thursday.
During its two terms in government from 2015 to 2023, the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party introduced judicial reforms which Brussels said undermined the rule of law and which critics blamed for chaos in the judiciary.
The Constitutional Tribunal, which rules on the validity of laws and is dominated by judges appointed under PiS, issued rulings stating that Poland's constitution had primacy over EU law, undermining a key principle of the Union.
"The Court... ruled that Poland had failed to fulfil its obligations because (the Tribunal) had infringed the principle of effective judicial protection and disregarded the primacy, autonomy, effectiveness and uniform application of EU law," the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) said in a statement.
It said there had been "serious irregularities" in the appointment of the Tribunal's president and three judges calling into question its status "as an independent and impartial tribunal established by law within the meaning of EU law."
Brussels took Poland to court over the rulings, and the current pro-European government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk does not recognise them.
But the government has so far failed in its efforts to roll back the changes, blocked by two subsequent nationalist presidents who support the PiS overhaul of courts.
Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek told Reuters in an interview this month that he was waiting for the CJEU ruling before pushing ahead with changes in the Tribunal, including the appointment of new independent judges.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Timothy Heritage)
The rule of law is the principle that all individuals and institutions are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated.
Judicial reforms are changes made to improve the efficiency, fairness, and integrity of the judicial system, often aimed at enhancing access to justice and the rule of law.
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