CJEU Advocate General Dean Spielmann assessed that the actions of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal constitute “an unprecedented rebellion,” reports Do Rzeczy. 

Spielmann, pointing to two judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal, stated that “the position adopted by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in its judgments of July 14 and Oct. 7, 2021, which constitutes an unprecedented rebellion, violates the primacy, autonomy, and effectiveness of EU law.”

He considered the complaint by the European Commission against Poland to be justified and that Poland “has failed to fulfill its obligations under European Union law.” 

According to Spielmann, the judgments of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal “differ significantly from the case law of the CJEU concerning the guarantee of effective legal protection.”

The opinion of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union is only a prelude to the judgment of the CJEU. The judges may agree with it — and usually do, but they may also issue a completely different judgment.

On July 14 and 7 Oct. 7, 2021, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal issued two judgments questioning the conformity of EU law and judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU with the Polish Constitution. On Feb. 15, 2023, the European Commission filed an infringement action against Poland with the CJEU. The EC also drew attention to irregularities in the appointment of three judges and the president of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and assessed that it therefore does not meet the requirements of an independent and impartial court.

The Constitutional Tribunal argued that if EU law were to be recognized as superior to national law, the Polish state would not be able to have the status of a sovereign state.

The Constitutional Tribunal also stressed that the European provision authorizing national courts to disregard constitutional provisions or to adjudicate on the basis of repealed norms is inconsistent with the Polish Constitution.

In response, the CJEU’s advocate general stated: “With these judgments, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal has struck a frontal blow against the fundamental principles of the EU legal order and against the authority of the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

“Infringement of these principles can in no way be justified by provisions of national law, including constitutional ones. Similarly, invoking the constitutional identity of a Member State cannot undermine the fundamental principles of EU law.”