Comments continue to pour in after Tuesday’s ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which undermines the narrative about “neo-judges”. Among those who spoke on the matter was Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek. However, he insists that the European court “confirmed a systemic problem of flawed appointments”.
“These are not good days for the minister,” commented attorney Bartosz Lewandowski on Żurek’s statement.
In its Tuesday ruling, the Court of Justice of the EU indicated that an irregularity in a judge’s appointment alone does not automatically determine a lack of independence. As the CJEU emphasized, in such cases it is necessary to assess all the circumstances surrounding the nomination. The decision is a defeat for the head of Iustitia – Bartłomiej Przymusiński – who referred preliminary questions to the CJEU in 2021.
The Court found that the mere involvement of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), operating in its current form after the judicial reform, in the process of appointing a judge, as well as the lack of an effective legal remedy for candidates who did not receive a recommendation, are not sufficient to automatically exclude such a judge from adjudicating.
Żurek’s narrative
A large part of the legal community, commenting on the ruling, points out that it dismantles the narrative promoted by the current government about the alleged “neo-judges”. However, Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek takes a different view. “The CJEU has not closed the issue of neo-judges – on the contrary, it confirmed a systemic problem of flawed appointments, both in ordinary courts and in the Supreme Court. We expected this ruling,” he wrote on the X platform.
As he added, “this reform must be completed, citizens must be certain that their case is decided by a judge, not a political appointee dressed in a robe”.
“We already have a ready remedy for this – it is called the rule of law act,” he announced.
“These are not good days for the minister”
His statement did not go unnoticed. Among those responding to the head of the justice ministry was attorney Bartosz Lewandowski, who assessed that “these are not good days for the Minister”.
“Yesterday, the District Court in Warsaw upheld the defense’s appeals and decisively overturned all prosecutorial decisions on asset seizure against Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. Today, one has to explain to the public that what the CJEU stated is a success for the government, although in reality it is a failure of the government’s demands….” he concluded.