Poland breached human rights over top court, ECHR rules
The Polish top court violated the freedom of expression by denying a rights group access to public information, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled.
The current pro-EU cabinet, the European Commission and European courts often accused Poland's former government, the Euro-sceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party, of having politicised a range of state institutions, including the country's Constitutional Tribunal (TK), which verifies compliance of laws with Poland's constitution.
The media accused TK's top figures, including the court's president, Julia Przylebska, of maintaining close relations with the ruling party, a breach of the separation of powers principle.
In 2017, the NGO Watchdog Polska Civic Network addressed TK with a request to share meeting calendars of Przylebska and her deputy Mariusz Muszynski.
Watchdog Polska also demanded access to the TK building entrance registers.
TK denied the request, stating that meeting calendars do not constitute public information. The Province Administrative Court dismissed the NGO's complaint, and the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the first instance judgment.
Thus, after exhausting the domestic path, the case went to Strasbourg in 2020.
On Thursday, the ECHR ruled that Poland breached Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights by denying the NGO access to meeting calendars. However, according to the verdict, the TK did not violate the convention when it comes to the entrance records because it was not obliged to keep them.
The judgment is not final. Within three months, either party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR.
If such a request is made, five judges will review whether the case merits further consideration. If the referral request is denied, Thursday's judgment will become final on the same day.
Once the verdict becomes final, it is forwarded to the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers for supervision of its implementation. (PAP)
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