Poland violated the rights of Judge Igor Tuleya, a known government critic, and must pay him €36,000 in compensation, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled on Thursday.
Tuleya, was stripped of immunity and suspended in 2020 by the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court which the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg said should be dismantled over concerns of it being government-controlled.
“Today, we may say it is a success, but it’s simply another battle won,” said Tuleya, referring to the state of the Polish judiciary under the rules of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.
“This is not yet a victory in the war in defence of the rule of law,” he added, as quoted by TVN24.
In its ruling, the court found Poland breached the judge’s right to a fair trial, his right to respect for private and family life, and his right to freedom of expression.
Tuleya’s suspension in 2020 came after he complained about five sets of preliminary inquiries the contested disciplinary body initiated against him in 2018 on suspicion of disciplinary misconduct, the ECHR’s press release writes.
The judge complained that one of those inquiries, concerning his alleged disclosure of sensitive information from an investigation file, had led to the lifting of his immunity from prosecution, and suspension from his official duties for over two years by the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, the court added.
However, Poland will not follow the Strasbourg court’s ruling requesting Poland to fork out €36,000, of which €6,000 will go to covering legal fees, said Justice Deputy Minister Sebastian Kaleta.
According to Kaleta, the ruling is not binding under Polish law, as it was challenged by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, whose impartiality is also questioned by the European Commission and the EU Court in Luxembourg.
Despite being contested by Brussels, the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Chamber, later replaced by the Professional Liability Chamber following pressure from the EU, is part of the judicial reform the PiS government has been implementing since it came to power in 2015.
Dismantling it was among the milestones Poland had to achieve to unlock Recovery and Resilience Facility funds the Commission froze over rule of law concerns.
The European human rights court is currently dealing with nearly 400 proceedings related to PiS’ judicial reform plans.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)
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