The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that Hungary and Poland are violating European law.
In Poland the independence of the judiciary is at risk.
Luxembourg - The European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, ruled on laws in Poland and Hungary on Tuesday.
Accordingly, a regulation in Poland endangers the independence of the judiciary, in Hungary the “Stop Soros” law violates EU law.
Hungary: Criminalization of aid organizations violates EU law
The so-called “Stop Soros” law in Hungary punishes aid organizations that help refugees with asylum procedures even if Hungarian criteria are not met. The law also deals with the reasons for a rejection. Because Hungary rejects asylum applications if the refugees enter via a country in which they are not threatened with imminent danger or persecution. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has now ruled that this law violates EU law.
The EU Commission had already sued the “Stop Soros” law in 2018.
The reason given at the time was that "the Hungarian regulation would restrict the rights guaranteed under EU law of those who support people seeking international protection." Budapest was born and supports aid organizations in his homeland.
The EU Commission has sued Hungary several times before the ECJ in the past few years.
The law enforcement officers in Luxembourg found that large parts of the Hungarian asylum policy violated EU law.
The ECJ sees the independence of the judiciary in Poland at risk
In Poland, the Justice Minister also acts as the Prosecutor General. According to a new regulation, he can delegate judges to higher courts and recall them from there at any time. This contradicts EU law, the ECJ ruled on Tuesday. It must be ensured that such a delegation never serves as an instrument for the political control of court decisions, so the European Court of Justice in its reasoning. The District Court in Warsaw had previously asked the ECJ to interpret EU law.
The highest legal authority of the EU had already ruled several times that Poland violated EU law.
Most recently, in October, the ECJ obliged Poland to pay a fine of one million euros a day because the country had failed to implement an earlier judgment.
At that time it was about the disciplinary body, which can punish judges and prosecutors and even fire them.
Not only the independence of the judiciary is at risk in Poland.
According to critics, an amendment to the media law also threatens the freedom of the press in the country.
(
mb / dpa
)
