EIT kieltää Puolaa panemasta täytäntöön päätöstä tuomareiden siirtämisestä toisiin tehtäviin

Interim measure in cases concerning transfers of Polish judges

The European Court of Human Rights has decided to indicate an interim measure in the cases Leszczyńska-Furtak v. Poland (application no. 39471/22), Gregajtys v. Poland (no. 39477/22) and Piekarska-Drążek v. Poland (no. 44068/22).

The applicants, experienced specialists in criminal law, are Polish judges of the Warsaw Court of Appeal who, until Summer 2022, adjudicated in the Criminal Division. All three have since been transferred, against their will, to the Labour and Social Security Division of that court. They allege that the transfers are a reprisal for their judicial decisions taken in application of the Court’s caselaw and the Court of Justice of European Union’s judgments and their consistent refusal to adjudicate in panels composed of judges appointed on recommendations of the new National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ).

On 6 December 2022, the Court (Chamber of the First Section) decided to indicate to the Government of Poland, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, that the respondent State should suspend the effects of the decisions to transfer the applicants from the Criminal Division to the Labour and Social Security Division of the Warsaw Court of Appeal and ensure that no decision to transfer the applicants to another division of the Warsaw Court of Appeal against their will was taken until the final determination of the applicants’ complaints by the Court.

Measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court are decided in connection with proceedings before the Court, without prejudging any subsequent decisions on the admissibility or merits of the case. The Court grants such requests only on an exceptional basis, when the applicants would otherwise face a real risk of irreversible harm.