L'affaire Indépendance de la Cour suprême devant la Cour de justice: réflexions sur 'l'indispensable liberté des juges'

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2019 4(3), 823-837 | European Forum Insight of 25 November 2019 | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Historique de la procédure. - III. Portée du recours. - IV. Examen au fond. - IV.1. La retraite anticipée. - IV.2. Prolongation du mandat. | (Abstract) The Court of Justice recently delivered its June 2019 judgment in Commission v. Poland (24 June 2019, case C-619/18, Independence of the Supreme Court [GC]). The Court upheld the principle of effective judicial protection embodied in Art. 19 TEU, building on its previous February 2018 judgment in Associação Sindical dos Juízes Portugueses (ASJP) (judgment of 27 February 2018, case C-64/16 [GC]). In doing so, the Court of Justice consolidated the case law on Art. 19 TEU by defining the scope of that provision and stressing its fundamental role in preserving judicial independence which, in turn, is central to the rule of law enshrined among other values in Art. 2 TEU. This Insight revisits the Independence of the Supreme Court judgment and concludes by highlighting that the nomination process of Court of Justice judges warrants some transparency in order to advance the rule of law which the Court itself seeks to uphold.