“A deliberate blow aimed at OUR Constitutional Tribunal” – the position of Polish legal organizations on the CJEU’s ruling

Polish lawyers—the members of the associations co-signing this position—express their categorical objection to yet another violation of the Treaty on European Union by the Court of Justice of the European Union, through the publication on December 18, 2025, of a statement in case C-448/23. The CJEU’s position represents a radical departure from the principles underpinning European integration, chief among them the principle of respect for the constitutional identity of the Member States, and constitutes an unwarranted interference with Polish sovereignty.

The CJEU’s statement ignores the principle of conferral, which limits the EU’s powers to areas explicitly conferred on the Union by the Member States. It also infringes the guarantees of Article 4(2) of the Treaty on European Union, which provides, inter alia, that “The Union shall respect the equality of Member States before the Treaties, as well as their national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional (…).” This principle is not affected by references to Article 2 TEU. The Polish Constitution, pursuant to its Article 8(1) and the established case law of the Constitutional Tribunal, remains superior to EU law.

The CJEU is once again overstepping its authority, as in cases concerning the recognition of same-sex unions or the rule of law in the Member States, where it imposes interpretations that conflict with the constitutional identity of the Member States. The Constitutional Tribunal’s 2021 judgments in cases P 7/20 and K 3/21 clearly found the incompatibility of certain competences of the Court of Justice of the European Union with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, thereby safeguarding the inviolable essence of the sovereignty of the Member States, including the organization of the judiciary. Meanwhile, the position expressed in the CJEU’s statement constitutes an attempt to legitimize its ultra vires actions and to prohibit Member States from taking any measures by which they could effectively safeguard the strict limits of the competences conferred on the EU. And in the absence of these measures, EU institutions will be able to expand their powers without limit.

The EU’s position therefore constitutes a deliberate blow aimed at the Constitutional Tribunal—the main body in Poland that safeguards the constitutional rights and freedoms of Polish citizens—at a time when the current government has been violating the rule of law. This may be taken by that very government as an encouragement to engage in further unlawful actions and, as a consequence—contrary to the intentions declared by the CJEU—lead to a reduction in the standard of legal protection to which Polish citizens are entitled.

The statement by the CJEU, issued without an adequate basis in treaty law, does not constitute a judgment or any other form of binding treaty-based decision and therefore has no binding effect on the public authorities or citizens of any of the EU Member States. The December 18 statement by the CJEU will remain merely a monument to federalist imperialism based on the ideas of the Italian communist Altiero Spinelli.

We would also like to note that, under the Treaties, each Member State has the right to nominate one judge to the CJEU. Candidates nominated by the previous government of Poland were rejected for political reasons. This circumstance raises the question of whether Poland is bound by the decisions of a body in which it ought to have a representative, yet for political reasons its treaty right remains unfulfilled to this day.

We call on the institutions of the European Union to respect the domestic law of the sovereign Member States that constitute the European Union, as well as EU primary law. The political goals of some EU states must not be placed above the constitutions of the member states and the national courts that safeguard them. For the sake of the community of the European continent, national law and cooperation between equal partners must remain a priority over attempts to forcibly change the rules that govern how European nations function.

We call on Polish politicians to end the political war over the judiciary, including the Constitutional Tribunal. The government is not unlimited in its lawmaking and policymaking. In particular, it must not allow Poland to lose its state sovereignty and the instruments for protecting citizens against the unchecked power of supranational organizations in exchange for the vague prospect of remaining in power longer. It is the constitutional duty of the authorities to safeguard Poland’s independence, to ensure freedoms and human and civil rights, and to ensure the security of individuals, including legal security.

Warsaw, December 19, 2025

Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture

Independent Association of Prosecutors Ad Vocem

National Association of Judges of the Republic of Poland

Lawyers for Poland Association

Warsaw Seminar on the Axiology of Administration