Poland violated the European Convention on Human Rights when it dismissed judges without explanation, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled today. The Polish government must pay compensation to the two judges who brought the case.
In 2017, as part of a judicial overhaul found to be a violation of the rule of law by various domestic and international organisations, a law was passed that empowered the justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, to dismiss presidents and vice-presidents of courts before the end of their terms without any restrictions.
Consequently, he removed 75 presidents and 73 vice-presidents, reports Rzeczpospolita. Two of those judges – Alina Bojara and Mariusz Broda – took the case to the ECHR, arguing that their human rights had been violated.
Judgment Broda and Bojara v. Poland – Removal of the applicants from office did not respect their right of access to a court https://t.co/m18Xw9f34A#ECHR #CEDH #ECHRpress
— ECHR CEDH (@ECHR_CEDH) June 29, 2021
In its ruling today, the court agreed with them. It found that the judges’ dismissal had violated “the principle of respect for procedural fairness…and in particular to the intervention of an authority independent of the executive and legislative branches of government in any decision affecting the termination of a judge’s term of office”.
The ECHR noted that Ziobro had provided no justification for his decision to remove Bojara and Broda, nor was it subject to review by any independent body, and nor could the judges make any representations in response.
The judges were therefore “not protected in any way against the premature and arbitrary termination of their duties”, and “almost all the powers in such matters were concentrated in the hands of the representative of the executive”.
“The Court concluded that the applicants’ removal had been based on a legislative provision whose compatibility with the requirements of the rule of law appeared doubtful and that the measure was not surrounded by any of the fundamental safeguards of procedural fairness,” found the ECHR.
This was a violation of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees “a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal”. It ordered Poland to pay the applicants €20,000 (90,400 zloty) each in damages.
“In view of the importance of the role of judges in protecting Convention rights, the Court considered it imperative that procedural safeguards be put in place to ensure that judicial autonomy was properly protected from undue influence,” concluded the ECHR. “Public confidence in the judiciary [i]s at stake.”
Poland’s national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government has, since coming to power in late 2015, undertaken an extensive overhaul of the judiciary that, it argues, is intended to improve the efficiency of courts and remove the influence of “post-communists” from the system.
Critics, however, say that the actual purpose is to purge independent judges, replace them with friendlier ones, and bring the judiciary under greater political control.
The European Commission has repeatedly found that the policies violate the rule of law, and has launched a number of proceedings against Poland at the European Court of Justice. International rankings of democracy and the rule of law show Poland falling dramatically since 2015.
Main image credit: Jakub Wlodek / Agencja Gazeta
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
