17.2.2020 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 54/17 |
Request for a preliminary ruling from the Sąd Okręgowy w Warszawie (Poland) lodged on 15 October 2019 — Prokuratura Rejonowa w Mińsku Mazowieckim v WB
(Case C-748/19)
(2020/C 54/19)
Language of the case: Polish
Referring court
Sąd Okręgowy w Warszawie
Criminal proceedings against:
WB
Questions referred
1. |
Should the second subparagraph of Article 19(1) of the Treaty on European Union, in conjunction with Article 2 thereof and the principle of the rule of law enshrined therein, and Article 6(1) and (2), in conjunction with recital 22, of Directive (EU) 2016/343 (1) of the European Parliament and of the Council be interpreted as meaning that the requirements of effective judicial protection, including the independence of the judiciary, and the requirements arising from the presumption of innocence are infringed in the case where judicial proceedings, such as criminal proceedings against a person accused under [Article 200(1)] of the Penal Code and other matters, are conducted in the following manner:
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2. |
Are the requirements referred to in Question 1 breached in a situation where the parties can lodge an extraordinary appeal against a judgment handed down in court proceedings such as those described in Question 1, and this extraordinary appeal is lodged with a court such as the Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court, Poland), the decisions of which cannot be the subject of appeal under national law, and national law imposes on the president of the organisational unit of that court (chamber) competent to hear the appeal the obligation to allocate cases in accordance with an alphabetical list of judges of that chamber, expressly prohibiting the omission of any judge, and the judges among whom the cases are allocated include a person appointed upon the motion of a collegiate body such as the Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa (National Council of the Judiciary), the members of which are judges:
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3. |
From the point of view of EU law, including the provisions and requirements referred to in Question 1, what is the effect of a judgment handed down in court proceedings such as those described in Question 1, and of a judgment handed down in proceedings before the Supreme Court, if the person referred to in Question 2 participates in the handing-down of that judgment? |
4. |
Does EU law, including the provisions referred to in Question 1, make the effects of the judgments referred to in Question 3 conditional upon whether the court in question has ruled in favour of or against the accused person? |
(1) Directive (EU) 2016/343 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings (OJ 2016 L 65, p. 1).