Judgment_paragraph 61 · L.G. v Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa (C-718/21)

61As is apparent from the Court’s settled case-law, the guarantees of independence and impartiality required under EU law as regards the courts called upon to interpret or apply EU law presuppose rules, particularly as regards the composition of the body and the appointment of its members, that are such as to dispel any reasonable doubt in the minds of individuals as to the imperviousness of that body to external factors and its neutrality with respect to the interests before it (judgment in W.Ż., paragraphs 109 and 128 and the case-law cited). That requirement that courts be independent, which is inherent in the task of adjudication, forms part of the essence of the right to effective judicial protection and the fundamental right to a fair trial, which is of cardinal importance as a guarantee that all the rights which individuals derive from EU law will be protected and that the values common to the Member States set out in Article 2 TEU, in particular the value of the rule of law, will be safeguarded (judgment of 15 July 2021, Commission v Poland (Disciplinary regime for judges), C‑791/19, EU:C:2021:596, paragraph 58 and the case-law cited).