I heard the MP Daniel Kawczynski talking in radio yesterday morning about the situation in Poland (he was born there). I was surprised to hear him support the view that the EU should not interfere in Poland's internal affairs (by threatening the withdrawal of budget) due to the Polish government making the judiciary accountable to politicians, rather than being independent.
The European system of justice is based on the independence of the judiciary - a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary, which is the trias politica model - and not politicising it. Appointments to the judiciary in England and Wales, since 2006, are made by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission and politicians have never been able to remove judges without just cause. Appointments to the Supreme Court are made by the Queen, on recommendation from the PM, which indeed is a political decision but, nonetheless, Supreme Court judges again cannot be removed by politicians without just cause and are selected from among existing judges who have been appointed independently.
The Polish reforms by the ironically named Law and Justice Party could force up to 40 per cent of Polish Supreme Court judges to step down and would give politicians control over the body that appoints judges. That contravenes the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which all EU members must adhere as a precondition of membership. Not only that, but the Justice Minister is the Chief Prosecutor.
What's strange is that ECJ judges are themselves appointed for a 6 year term by the governments of the EU members - 28 in all - and thus are political appointments but, crucially, not by a single government, and again are drawn from a cadre of independently appointed judges. I guess that's the only equitable way of appointing them, but they are not appointed centrally by the EU itself.
The European system of justice is based on the independence of the judiciary - a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary, which is the trias politica model - and not politicising it. Appointments to the judiciary in England and Wales, since 2006, are made by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission and politicians have never been able to remove judges without just cause. Appointments to the Supreme Court are made by the Queen, on recommendation from the PM, which indeed is a political decision but, nonetheless, Supreme Court judges again cannot be removed by politicians without just cause and are selected from among existing judges who have been appointed independently.
The Polish reforms by the ironically named Law and Justice Party could force up to 40 per cent of Polish Supreme Court judges to step down and would give politicians control over the body that appoints judges. That contravenes the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which all EU members must adhere as a precondition of membership. Not only that, but the Justice Minister is the Chief Prosecutor.
What's strange is that ECJ judges are themselves appointed for a 6 year term by the governments of the EU members - 28 in all - and thus are political appointments but, crucially, not by a single government, and again are drawn from a cadre of independently appointed judges. I guess that's the only equitable way of appointing them, but they are not appointed centrally by the EU itself.
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