Poland will not allow its national law to be subordinate to the legislation of the European Union, Zbigniew Ziobro, the Polish minister of justice and attorney general, said on Thursday in the aftermath of Brussels launching a new legal case against Warsaw
WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2020) Poland will not allow its national law to be subordinate to the legislation of the European Union, Zbigniew Ziobro, the Polish minister of justice and attorney general, said on Thursday in the aftermath of Brussels launching a new legal case against Warsaw.
On Wednesday, the European Commission initiated a new, already the fourth, infringement procedure over a Polish law that Brussels believes threatens the independence of judges in Poland.
"I would like to tell [European Commissioner for Justice Didier] Reynders to comprehend that the Polish constitution was, is and will always be above the EU treaties, and we will never agree that the EU treaties subdue the Polish constitution," Ziobro said.
The minister described the new infringement procedures as "groundless," saying that "the European Commission has no right to interfere in the domestic affairs and the formation of the judiciary of individual countries."
In February, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a law amending the legislation on common courts and the Supreme Court in a way to empower politicians to fine and fire judges, including for criticizing the president. It has triggered a backlash in Brussels, where the new law was taken as a threat to the rule of law in Poland in violation of EU democratic standards.
The European Commission has repeatedly warned the Polish government about its readiness to invoke Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would suspend Poland's membership rights in the European Union, such as voting in the European Council. Warsaw now has two months to address the conflict, or else it will be passed on to the European Court of Justice.
