The Significance of the Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 4 November 2021 in case no. III FSK 3626/21 as a Judgment of the National Court, European Judges for the Status of Assessors and Judges of Courts of First Instance and for the So-called Conditionality Mechanism

Abstract

The commentary essentially endorses the considerations of the Polish Supreme Administrative Court judgment of 4 November 2021 in case no. III FSK 3626/21. The author indicated a possible way of resolving the dispute over the National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ) and the composition of the Supreme Court without destructive, automatic undermining of the status of judges selected in the procedure with the newly appointed NCJ. The standard defined by the Supreme Administrative Court applies to all assessors and all judges of first instance. Ignoring by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Advance Pharma Sp. z o.o. v. Poland, the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 4 November 2021 does not alter the rules of the test from the case of Guðmundur Andri Ástráðsson v. Iceland. The Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling binds both the European tribunals and is necessary for the correct determination of the status of both first-instance judges and assessors. Moreover, in relation to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 16 February 2022 in case C-157/21 Poland should be paid funds from the National Reconstruction Program, because the dispute over the rule of law concerns courts other than administrative, and in relation to these courts the issue of the rule of law is resolved by the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 4 November 2021.

Keywords

• prawa człowieka
• praworządność
• prawo do sądu
• naczelny sąd administracyjny