Tag Archives: medel

Dinsdag 30 mei 2023, 16:30 uur: Opkomen voor de rechtsstaat

Opkomen voor de rechtsstaat: dat is in ieders belang
Uitnodiging bijeenkomst dinsdag 30 mei 2023 (16:30-19:00 uur)
Atrium, Spui 70 te Den Haag

 

In de aanloop naar de Week van de Rechtsstaat die van 30 mei t/m 3 juni 2023 plaatsvindt, is de Poolse fototentoonstelling Sprawiedliwość (Gerechtigheid) met foto’s van fotograaf Piotr Wójcik te zien in het Atrium Den Haag van 27 mei t/m 16 juni 2023. Onze stichting heeft deze tentoonstelling georganiseerd in samenwerking met het College voor de Rechten van de Mens.

 

De gerenommeerde fotograaf Piotr Wójcik (Picture Doc Foundation) vertelt in zijn documentair fotografisch project Justice/Gerechtigheid het verhaal van onafhankelijke rechters, aanklagers en advocaten, die een belangrijke stem zijn in het debat over de Poolse rechtsstaat.

Wójcik portretteerde vertegenwoordigers van deze verschillende juridische beroepen die, omdat ze niet toegeven aan de druk van de autoriteiten, dagelijks geconfronteerd worden met de gevolgen van hun standvastigheid. Kom deze inspirerende tentoonstelling bekijken om te begrijpen hoe burgers met hun keuzes vorm kunnen geven aan de rechtsstaat.

 

Op dinsdag 30 mei 2023 vindt er in het kader van deze tentoonstelling vanaf 16:30 uur in het Atrium een bijeenkomst (Engelstalig) plaats met als thema:

Opkomen voor de rechtsstaat: dat is in ieders belang.

 

 

De volgende sprekers zullen een bijdrage leveren:

Monika Frąckowiak (rechter in Polen, lid van Poolse rechtersvereniging Iustitia en vice-voorzitter van Europese magistratenvereniging Medel) over de huidige situatie van onafhankelijke en onpartijdige rechters en aanklagers in Polen;

 

Prof. dr. John Morijn (bijzonder hoogleraar recht en politiek in de internationale betrekkingen en universitair docent Europese mensenrechten aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, tevens lid van het College voor de Rechten van de Mens) zal spreken over de Europese en Nederlandse relevantie van uitdagingen voor de rechtsstaat en de noodzaak deze beter uit te leggen;

 

Studenten van het ‘Our Rule of law’ team zullen met ons hun ideeën delen omtrent: Wat jonge Europeanen voorstellen om de rechterlijke onafhankelijkheid en de rechtsstaat beter te beschermen. Aanwezig zullen zijn Anna Walczak, Zuzanna Uba en Elene Amiranashivili.

 

Tijdens de borrel (start circa 17:45 uur) zal de fotograaf Piotr Wójcik een toelichting geven bij zijn foto’s.

 

Wij nodigen u van harte uit voor deze bijeenkomst op dinsdag 30 mei 2023 (16:30 – 19:00 uur).

In verband met de catering verzoeken wij u ons vóór 16 mei 2023 te laten weten of u dan aanwezig zult zijn.

U kunt zich opgeven door deze e-mail te beantwoorden (Ja, ik kom graag op 30 mei naar de bijeenkomst met ….perso(o)n(en)).

Deelname is gratis maar een donatie aan Rechters voor Rechters wordt buitengewoon op prijs gesteld (dat kan ook makkelijk via onderstaande QR-code).

 

 

Graag tot ziens bij onze bijeenkomst op 30 mei!

 

Hartelijke groet namens het bestuur,

 

 

Tamara Trotman en Esther de Rooij

 

 

UPDATE Rule of Law Lawsuit against the Polish Recovery and Resilience Plan

Press Release / Update

In a notable procedural decision, the General Court will hear arguments on the substance of the Rule of Law Lawsuit against the Polish Recovery and Resilience Plan, reserving objections on standing raised by the Council to be dealt with later. The Court has moreover triggered the Expedited Procedure for the case.

On 28 August 2022, the four main European judges’ organisations filed lawsuits in the EU General Court for annulment of the Council’s approval of the Polish Recovery and Resilience Plan (“RRP”).[1] The judges’ organisations argue that the RRP contains inadequate safeguards (so-called “milestones”) regarding the rule of law.[2] In a rare move, the case is being treated in an expedited procedure, last used for the RT France case.

In addition, on 27 February 2023, the judges’ organisations brought another lawsuit,[3] challenging the Financing and Loan Agreements entered into by the Commission on the basis of the Council’s approval of the RRP.[4] These agreements contain details of how the EU funds will be paid out to Poland by the Commission. This additional lawsuit is being brought as a precaution because the Council has contested the admissibility of the judges’ organisations’ case, notably on the basis that it is the Financing and Loan Agreements which constitute “the individual legal commitment within the meaning of the Financial Regulation” that technically needs to be the target of an annulment action. The lawsuit, which is directed against the Commission, is accordingly based on five identical pleas to the original lawsuit against the Council. A sixth ground is added, as the Commission has drafted the agreements in terms which could allow payments even where the flawed rule of law milestones have not been met – and thus without even minimal remedial action on the part of Poland.

In an Order of 31 March 2023, served on the parties this week, the General Court considers that, notwithstanding the Council’s arguments on admissibility, it is appropriate to continue the proceedings on the substance. The Court will accordingly rule on the admissibility arguments only after having heard arguments on the substance of the cases. The Council was given until 26 April 2023 to lodge a defence. By letter date 5 April 2023, the Council sought an extension of this time limit to 5 June 2023 and suggested that the Court reconsider its decision to apply the expedited procedure. The Court granted a 1-week extension to 3 May 2023. No hearing date has been set yet, but it can be expected to be convened before the summer vacation.

The judges’ organisations are in particular concerned that the “milestones” approved by the Council deviate from and are inconsistent with the case-law of the Court of Justice concerning the Disciplinary Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court. While the Court required unlawfully imposed disciplinary sanctions to be immediately set aside, the Council’s decision would authorise Poland to require wrongly sanctioned judges to commence potentially cumbersome “review proceedings” to have their names cleared. While it seems that all the unlawfully suspended judges have in the meantime been able to return to work,[5] there are still numerous sham disciplinary proceedings pending against judges and a vast range of previous sanctions that have not been set aside and continue to put these and other judges under undue pressure.

Background

The four main European organisations of judges are the Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ), the European Association of Judges (EAJ, a regional branch of the International Association of Judges – IAJ), Rechters voor Rechters (Judges for Judges), and Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés (MEDEL). They are represented by Carsten Zatschler SC and Emily Egan McGrath BL, Barristers, assisted by Anne Bateman and Maeve Delargy, Solicitors of Philip Lee LLP, Dublin. The support provided by The Good Lobby Profs is gratefully acknowledged.

The deterioration of the rule of law in Poland has been conclusively established in a range of judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as in numerous documents of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission. It is therefore not possible to guarantee that the EU funds[6] will be spent as intended under the RRP. It is uncontested that effective judicial protection is a prerequisite for the functioning of the internal control system required by the applicable legal rules[7] and that without an adequate internal control system, no payments are legally possible.

 

[1] See previous Press Release: https://medelnet.eu/four-european-organisations-of-judges-sue-eu-council-for-disregarding-eu-courts-judgements-on-decision-to-unblock-funds-to-poland/

[2] The cases were registered as Cases T-530/22 to T-533/22 and subsequently joined: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:62022TN0530

[3] Case T-116/23: https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?nat=or&mat=or&pcs=Oor&jur=C%2CT%2CF&num=T-116%252F23

[4] Commission Ref. Ares (2022)6239700 and Ares (2022)6239884, disclosed to the public on 24 January 2023 in response to a request from the judges’ organisations.

[5] Judge Maciej Ferek returns to adjudication, the new Chamber of the Supreme Court has lifted his suspension: https://ruleoflaw.pl/judge-maciej-ferek-returns-to-adjudication-the-new-chamber-of-the-supreme-court-has-lifted-his-suspension-this-was-the-last-judge-who-had-been-suspended/

[6] The Council authorised the payment of financial support to Poland encompassing up to some 23.8 billion euros of non-repayable support and up to some 11.5 billion euros of loans.

[7] Article 22 of the RRF Regulation.