European Commission v Republic of Poland (C-791/19)
law://eu/cjeu/2019/c-791-19/para_51@2026-11-12
Key facts
Court
Court of Justice · Grand Chamber
Case
C-791/19 · ECLI:EU:C:2021:596
Decided
15 Jul 2021
Procedure
Infringement action
Applicant
European Commission
Defendant
Republic of Poland
Rapporteur
A. Prechal
Advocate General
E. Tanchev
Bench
15 judgesK. Lenaerts, R. Silva de Lapuerta, A. Arabadjiev, A. Prechal, M. Vilaras, M. Ilešič, A. Kumin, N. Wahl, T. von Danwitz, C. Toader, K. Jürimäe, C. Lycourgos, N. Jääskinen, I. Ziemele, J. Passer
51In addition, compliance by a Member State with the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU is a condition for the enjoyment of all of the rights deriving from the application of the Treaties to that Member State. A Member State cannot, therefore, amend its legislation in such a way as to bring about a reduction in the protection of the value of the rule of law, a value which is given concrete expression by, inter alia, Article 19 TEU. The Member States are thus required to ensure that, in the light of that value, any regression of their laws on the organisation of justice is prevented, by refraining from adopting rules which would undermine the independence of judges (judgments of 20 April 2021, Repubblika, C‑896/19, EU:C:2021:311, paragraphs 63 to 65 and the case-law cited, and in Asociaţia ‘Forumul Judecătorilor din România’ and Others, paragraph 162).