Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s Judgement Regarding Supremacy of the Polish Constitution Over EU Law: The Next-Level Debate on the “Last Word’’

Abstract

2021 judgement K 3/21 of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunał Konstytucyjny, hereinafter – the Tribunal) concerns compatibility of some norms of Treaty on European Union (TEU) with Polish constitution. According to the Tribunal, contested norms of TEU are incompatible with relevant norms of the Polish constitution. It also suggested that Polish government institutions follow national constitutional rules in case of any conflicts. In essence, the Tribunal ruled that Polish constitution shall supersede TEU in specific cases brought before the constitutional court. This article aims to explore the contents of Tribunal’s judgement, analyse its legal rationale, reflect upon relationship between EU law and national constitutional laws from a broader legal and political perspective, and draw conclusions regarding the next steps.

Keywords

• European Union law
• Constitution
• Constitutional Court
• European Court of Justice