The rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the monitoring of Poland, Azadeh Rohjan Gustafsson (Sweden, SOC) and Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), reacted today to the decision of the international chamber of the Amsterdam Court regarding the Polish justice system and its independence of the government, and the question addressed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) whether the extradition of suspects to Poland should be halted.
“This is a very serious development which we had both forecasted and warned about in our report on the functioning of democratic institutions in Poland that was adopted by the Assembly in January this year. The conclusion of the Amsterdam Court that the Polish justice system is no longer independent confirms our own findings and is fully in line with previous judgments of the CJEU.
We regret that our concerns and the judgments of the CJEU have not yet been addressed by the Polish authorities. The deteriorating independence of the judiciary and respect for the rule of law in Poland affects all European countries. It is now high time that the Polish government and the European Commission take prompt and concrete action to restore respect for the rule of law and independence of the judiciary in Poland” said the rapporteurs.
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