CJEU IN FOCUS #5: C-718/21 Krajowa Rada Sadownictwa

• Department of Law

The EU Law Working Group hosts the fifth instalment of CJEU in Focus.

About the judgment:

The judgment is a remarkable development in the CJEU struggle with the rule of law backsliding in Poland, and an important precedent as to its relationship with national judiciaries. In Krajowa Rada Sadownictwa the CJEU declared inadmissible a request for a preliminary ruling by the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs (CECPA) of the Polish Supreme Court. The CJEU found that was not an independent and impartial court established by law, a necessary precondition for judicial dialogue with the CJEU. Although the Polish judiciary had provided it with several opportunities before, this is the first time that the CJEU itself assessed of the status of CECPA, reached a negative conclusion and refused to engage in dialogue with the so-called Polish neo-judges.

More broadly, this it marks the first time that the CJEU rebutted its presumption of Getin Noble Bank that a referring court meets the criteria of Article 267 TFEU regardless of its actual composition. Furthermore, the CECPA finds itself in a peculiar situation of being prohibited from engaging in dialogue with the CJEU while continuing to exist and adjudicate.

The judgment may be of particular interest for those working on the rule of law in Poland, litigation before the CJEU, and the relationship between the CJEU and the national judiciaries.