The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić has written a letter to Poland's Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro in which she criticises Polish authorities for questioning the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights and undermining the high court itself. The ECHR ruled on Tuesday that Poland violated Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, by removing two vice-presidents of a regional court and not allowing them to appeal against the decision.
Poland violated Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the European Court of Human Rights said on Tuesday. The case concerned a complaint made by two vice-presidents of the Kielce Regional Court whose term of office was prematurely ended by the Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro. The ECHR ordered Poland to pay the judges 20,000 euro each.
Later that day Poland's Ministry of Justice, led by minister Zbigniew Ziobro, issued a statement in which it dismissed the ruling as "groundless" and "not based on any law or international convention". Furthermore, the ministry said the verdict was a proof of "unacceptable politicisation of the Court".
In response to the statement, The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić on Thursday issued a letter to minister Ziobro.
"It is with concern and disappointment that I have read recent statements from the Polish authorities relating to a judgement of the European Court of Human Rights" - wrote the CoE chief.
Pejčinović Burić also argued that "allegations that judgements from the Court are politically motivated are not helpful". "They undermine the authority of this institution and the credibility of the system of the European Convention on Human Rights as a whole."
The Secretary General also reminded that all 47 members of the Council of Europe, including Poland, "have regularly reaffirmed their deep and abiding commitment to the Court as a cornerstone of the system for protecting the rights and freedoms set forth in the Convention".
"They recently did so in the Committee of Ministers' Declaration on the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe, when they also affirmed their commitment to securing the independent functioning of the judiciary and to continuously reinforcing the authority of the rule of law" - Marija Pejčinović Burić stressed.
"I trust that Poland will remain committed to supporting the implementation of the Convention as interpreted by the Strasbourg Court, in the Polish law - which includes the obligation assumed by the High Contracting Parties to execute the Court's final judgements" - she underscored.
Finally, Pejčinović Burić reassured Ziobro that "the Council of Europe remains at your country's disposal to provide all necessary assistance in this respect".
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Council of Europe