EU’s top court halves Polish fine in judicial reform dispute

Warsaw, April 22 (IANS) The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has halved a 1 million euro ($1.1. million) daily fine imposed on Poland in a row over changes to the country’s judicial system that the EU said threatened the rule of law.

The CJEU imposed the fine on Poland in late 2021, after the European Commission took the country to the EU court over a controversial new mechanism for disciplining judges, Xinhua news agency reported.

On March 10, 2023, Poland asked the CJEU to waive or change the decision, arguing that it had since implemented the necessary changes to the law to make it compatible with EU requirements.

The EU court has now acknowledged the actions undertaken by Poland, including the liquidation of a disciplinary panel for judges, and therefore halved the penalty to 500,000 euros a day.

–IANS
int/sha