Poland’s rule-of-law crisis escalated after a group of Supreme Court judges—appointed during the former Law and Justice (PiS) government’s controversial judicial overhaul—issued a resolution rejecting the European Union’s right to regulate Poland’s justice system. They further claimed that no public authority may disregard their rulings, even when EU law is invoked.
The session was marked by protests in the courtroom, where critics shouted that the attending judges were “not a court,” referencing their appointment by a politically influenced National Council for the Judiciary (KRS). Both Polish and EU courts have previously ruled that the post-reform KRS lacks independence, casting doubt on the legitimacy of judges selected under PiS-era rules—often called “neo-judges.”
Their resolution comes in direct conflict with an earlier declaration issued by “old judges” in the labour chamber, who argued that rulings from the extraordinary review chamber—composed entirely of “neo-judges”—should be treated as legally non-existent. That earlier position relied on a September ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) deeming the chamber’s decisions null and void.
The new resolution asserts that Poland has not delegated to the EU any authority to shape the organisation or functioning of its judiciary. It insists that such powers belong solely to Polish constitutional bodies, deepening a legal divide in which different parts of the Supreme Court openly contradict one another.
One judge who boycotted the session, Piotr Prusinowski, condemned the move, calling it a display of individuals “whose status as judges is flawed” claiming authority that neither Europe nor the Polish legal community recognises.
The governing coalition, elected in 2023 on promises to restore the rule of law, has struggled to address the status of roughly 2,500 judges appointed under the disputed system—blocked both by internal disagreements and presidential resistance. Public distrust in the courts has surged, reaching 57% in recent polling, the highest recorded level.