At its Human Rights meeting on 17-19 September, the Committee of Ministers welcomed the commitment of the Polish authorities to thoroughly execute the judgments concerning the rule of law in Poland, notably in the cases of Xero Flor w Polsce Sp. z o.o., Reczkowicz group of cases, Wałęsa pilot judgment, Broda and Bojara, Grzęda, Żurek, Juszczyszyn and Tuleya.
The Committee noted with interest the ongoing legislative work concerning a new draft Act on the Constitutional Court, draft temporary provisions and the amendment to the Constitution, aiming at ensuring a lawful composition of the Constitutional Court, addressing the status of decisions adopted with the participation of irregularly appointed judges and preventing undue influence on the appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court and to guarantee its independence. The Committee encouraged the authorities to rapidly finalise their legislative work to ensure the execution of the Xero Flor judgment, while considering the relevant European and international standards making full use of further cooperation with the Council of Europe bodies, particularly with the Venice Commission.
In addition, the Committee welcomed the amendment to the law on the National Council of the Judiciary, foreseeing that its judicial members will be elected by judges and thus addressing one of general requirements for the execution of judgments from the Reczkowicz group of cases and stressed the need for a rapid finalisation of the legislative process. It also noted that a comprehensive reform of the National Council of the Judiciary is still foreseen, including to address the status of deficiently appointed judges and the status of judgments adopted with their participation; and that the authorities are seeking in this respect advice from the Venice Commission.
The Committee took note of information about other foreseen reforms, including to reform the Supreme Court and abolish the extraordinary review system; and to ensure unrestricted rights for courts to verify the lawfulness of judicial appointments and to eliminate the restrictions introduced by the 2019 Muzzle Law, and asked to be rapidly informed of of more concrete proposals.
The Committee decided to examine again these cases by at one of its meetings in 2025.
