EU's top court lowers fine on Poland in judicial reform dispute

The EU's top court has reduced the daily fine it previously imposed on Poland over the changes to the country's judicial system that the EU said threatened the rule of law.

In a ruling issued on Friday, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) lowered the fine from EUR 1 million to EUR 500,000 a day.

The case concerns a dispute between the European Commission (EC) and Poland over the Polish government's changes to the country's court system that, according to Brussels, have forbidden local courts to examine whether the EU rules on court independence and impartiality are being met in tried cases.

In 2021, the EC took Poland to the EU court claiming that the Polish legislative changes had infringed upon EU laws.

The CJEU imposed the original one-million-euro daily fine on Poland in late 2021.

On March 10, 2023, Poland motioned 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 acknowledged the actions undertaken by Poland, including the liquidation of a disciplinary panel for judges, and decided to halve the penalty.