Ruling party wants tribunal's opinion on EU court ruling

The Polish prime minister will submit a request to the country’s Constitutional Tribunal for it to issue an opinion on a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union that said the process of appointing judges in Poland may break EU law.

Government spokesman Piotr Mueller said Mateusz Morawiecki will direct to the Constitutional Tribunal a motion calling on it to make ruling on a possible conflict of EU laws with the Polish Constitution.

Earlier, Anita Czerwińska, spokeswoman for the Law and Justice party, which dominates the Polish government, told PAP: "Law and Justice is asking the government to refer to the Constitutional Tribunal a motion calling on it to present an opinion on the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, parts of which question the superiority of the constitution over all sources of law in Poland, including treaties on the EU and the functioning of the EU, which have been signed by Poland, as well as EU secondary law."

In response to questions raised by Poland's Supreme Administrative Court, on Tuesday the European court said that "subsequent amendments to the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary, which led to the abolition of effective judicial review of the Council's decisions, on presenting to the president applications for the appointment of candidates for Supreme Court judges, may violate EU law."

The party decided on the step during a top level meeting on Wednesday.