15 November 2022
The post-Brexit Breakdown of the Rule of Law in the UK
The sad reality is that Brexit has contributed to an emerging breakdown of the Rule of Law in the United Kingdom. The famous slogan: ‘Take Back Control’ left open what a post-Brexit society should become. As a result, of course, what Brexit meant had to be worked out after the referendum, and here is where the tensions with the Rule of Law began in earnest, because ‘taking back control’ became, in effect, the only principle and anything that stood in the way of achieving that result was to be sacrificed, including the Rule of Law. Continue reading >>
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14 November 2022
Are Hungary’s EU Funds Being Cut (or Not)?
The news about whether Hungary will receive EU funds (or not) these days is confusing. One day, we hear that the European Commission is proposing to lower the boom on Hungary by cutting a large chunk of its Cohesion Funds under the general EU budget. The next day, we hear that the Commission is nearing an agreement to approve Hungary’s Recovery Plan in order to greenlight the release of funds. Is the Commission using or surrendering its financial leverage to require that the Hungarian government honor the rule of law? Will the Hungarian government negotiate its way out of funding cuts by really loosening its autocratic grip on power, or would any reform be illusory? Continue reading >>11 November 2022
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 1: Poland
We Need to Talk About the Rule of Law is back for a second season that focuses on the impact of rule of law erosions on attorneys. In the first episode, we talk to MIKOŁAJ PIETRZAK. He is an attorney and the Dean of the Warsaw Bar Association, which is the oldest professional legal association in Poland and the administrative association of attorneys in Warsaw. Continue reading >>
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07 November 2022
With or Without Hungary
By December 2022, the Council must vote on the Commission's proposal to withdraw EU budgetary funds from Hungary under the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation. Without a legal basis for its exclusion, Hungary will cast its vote on that proposal. Obviously, the participation of a Member State in a vote that decides on the consequences of its own rule of law violations seems paradoxical. There should be a general Treaty rule that prevents a Member State from voting in the Council when their own alleged misconduct is at stake. Continue reading >>
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07 November 2022
If You Build It, They Will Come
Content moderation is not only an Internet governance problem; it is also, unavoidably, a form of de facto adjudication. When observed in detail, the “procedure before substance” approach of the DSA leaves many questions unanswered. The final text of the Regulation contains compromises and blind spots. Continue reading >>
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04 November 2022
Uniform Interpretation and Primacy of Union Law in the Dialogue of the Courts
The issue of uniform interpretation and primacy of Union law raises a fundamental question concerning the allocation and distribution of judicial power in the European Union. From the point of view of Union law practice, however, the discussion, which is now beginning with renewed vigor, seems strangely out of touch with the times. Without offering any solutions or "last words" in this debate, some remarks on the current EU treaty law and its interpretation are in order. Continue reading >>
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31 October 2022
A Chamber of Certain Liability
The establishment of the Chamber of Professional Liability is the latest installment in the saga, in which the Polish Law & Justice government tries to ‘reform’ the Supreme Court. It shows, in a nutshell, all the major issues of the rule of law crisis in Poland: conflict with the European Commission and loss of EU funds; apparent concessions and leaving old issues intact; split in the Polish legal community between lawful and unlawful judges. All the elements of drama are here and it all begins with the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. Continue reading >>
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31 October 2022
Hungary’s Shambolic Anticorruption Proposals
The Article Useless and Maybe Unconstitutional: Hungary’s Proposed Judicial Review of the Prosecutorial Decisions by Kim Lane Scheppele, Petra Bárd and Gábor Mészáros gives a detailed account of the proposed legislation on amending the Hungarian Criminal Procedure Code. The conclusions of the article are correct and most of the criticism is accurate. Yet the article misses some real weaknesses of the Hungarian government’s proposal. This article aims to point out these weaknesses from the viewpoint of a practicing Hungarian criminal lawyer. Continue reading >>
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26 October 2022
Useless and Maybe Unconstitutional
In part III of our analysis of the anti-corruption framework, we will look at another aspect of the Hungarian “reforms”: a new procedure that seems to allow the general public to challenge in court the decisions of Hungarian public prosecutors to drop corruption cases. The new procedure is nearly impossible to use and adds little value to existing controls on the public prosecutor. In addition, the Hungarian Constitutional Court may declare it unconstitutional in any event. Continue reading >>
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17 October 2022
Three misconceptions about the EU rule of law crisis
There are three major academic and political misconceptions concerning the EU rule of law crisis. The first mistake is already in the denomination, as the name ‘rule of law crisis’ is actually misleading, the second is to believe that ‘the EU does not have the necessary legal tools’, and the third is to conceive it as a ‘crisis only in the Member States affected’. These misconceptions make the crisis look narrower and less threatening than what it actually is, while also offering excuses for inaction. Continue reading >>
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