ECHR: Polish Disciplinary Chamber violated Human Rights Convention in case against judge Juszczyszyn

In a press statement issued on Thursday, the European Court of Human Right (ECHR) said "the case concerned the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court’s disciplinary measures against a judge who had issued a court order for information on appointments of judges via the controversial 'new' National Council of the Judiciary".

The said judge was Paweł Juszczyszyn, who had filed his complaint against the Disciplinary Chamber back in August of 2020.

In the ruling, the ECHR said that three articles of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated in the proceedings against Juszczyszyn: Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial), Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life), and Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions of rights) taken in conjunction with Article 8.

The ECHR also said it had "found in line with its reasoning in Reczkowicz v. Poland, in particular, that the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court was not an 'independent and impartial tribunal established by law'".

"Concerning Mr Juszczyszyn’s right to respect for private and family life, given that the Disciplinary Chamber could not be considered a 'court' owing to how it had been set up, the decision to suspend him had been unlawful. Furthermore, it had not been possible for Mr Juszczyszyn to foresee that his actions would lead to his suspension under the law" - the Court said.

"Lastly, the Court held that Mr Juszczyszyn’s suspension had been for reasons other than those set out in Article 8. Specifically it had been for the purposes of discouraging him from examining the appointment procedure for judges, in violation of his rights," we read in the press statement.