CEDH · CASELAW;COMMUNICATEDCASES;ENG — 8 mars 2023

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .s379BC09C { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s10950C61 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .s339D85E6 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s665E407E { margin-top:66pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } Published on 23 March 2023   FIRST SECTION Application no. 8076/22 Marzanna Anna PIEKARSKA-DRĄŻEK against Poland lodged on 11 February 2022 communicated on 23 May 2022 and 8 March 2023 REVISED SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE The earlier facts and previous complaints in this application have been summarised in the Subject Matter of the Case, published on 13 June 2022 and available on HUDOC. The new facts can be summarised as follows: The Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court (“the DCSC”) was abolished on 15 July 2022, upon entry into force of the Act of 9 June 2022 amending the Act on the Supreme Court and certain other Acts ( ustawa z dnia 9 czerwca 2022 r. o zmianie ustawy o Sądzie Najwyższym oraz niektórych innych ustaw ; “the 2022 Amending Act”). The 2022 Amending Act established a new chamber of the Supreme Court: the Chamber of Professional Responsibility (“the CPR”). On 15 July 2022 the First President of the Supreme Court nominated five judges of that court (Judges W. Kozielewicz, D. Kala, M. Wąsek-Wiaderek, M. Siwek and K. Wiak) to adjudicate in the CPR on the transitional basis. On 17 September 2022 the President of the Republic, with the countersignature of the Prime Minister, nominated eleven judges of the Supreme Court to adjudicate in the CPR for a term of five years. Six of those judges had been appointed to the Supreme Court by the President of the Republic on recommendations of the NCJ as established under the Act of 8   December 2017 Amending the Act on the NCJ and certain other acts (“the 2017 Amending Act”). The applicant’s case concerning the Minister of Justice’s order on the immediate interruption in the exercise of her duties was assigned to a panel of the CPR composed of Judge W.   Kozielewicz, Judge M. Wąsek-Wiaderek and lay Judge A. Popończyk. On 20 September 2022 the CPR gave decision. It held that the Minister of Justice’s order had been unjustified and decided to discontinue the proceedings. On an unspecified date the disciplinary officer lodged an interlocutory appeal ( zażalenie ). The   proceedings before the CPR are pending. The applicant complains under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention that the panel of the CPR which gave decision of 20 September 2022 was not a   “tribunal established by law”. In this connection, she submits that the members of that panel, as other members of the transitional composition of the CPR, were nominated by the First President of the Supreme Court, who herself had been appointed as judge of the Supreme Court by the President of the Republic pursuant to recommendation of the new NCJ. The applicant further complains that the CPR is not a “tribunal established by law” because six out of eleven judges of that Chamber were appointed as judges of the Supreme Court by the President of the Republic pursuant to recommendations of the new NCJ. Furthermore, judges of the Supreme Court were assigned to adjudicate in the CPR by the President of the Republic. QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES 1. Was Article 6 § 1 of the Convention under its civil head applicable to the proceedings in the present case in so far as the ordering of an immediate interruption in the applicant’s judicial duties is concerned? 2. Have the proceedings before the Chamber of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court violated the applicant’s right to be heard by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law as guaranteed by Article   6 §   1 of the Convention? Reference is made to the fact that six out of eleven judges assigned to that Chamber were appointed to the Supreme Court pursuant to recommendations of the NCJ as established under the 2017 Amending Act (see Reczkowicz v.   Poland , no. 43447/19, 22 July 2021; Dolińska-Ficek and Ozimek v.   Poland , nos. 49868/19 and 57511/19, 8 November 2021; Advance Pharma sp. z o.o. v. Poland , no. 1469/20, 3   February 2022).