The European Union's highest court has determined that Poland's judicial reforms broke EU law.
The creation of a disciplinary chamber for judges was one of the 2019 reforms that received criticism from the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
As part of the EU's "very identity," judges said the rule of law risked being compromised by the laws.
Zbigniew Ziobro, the minister of justice in Poland, referred to the ECJ as "corrupt" in response to the decision.
Because it clearly violates European treaties, he claimed that politicians rather than judges had drafted the decision.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) reaffirmed on Monday that the judges' discipline panel established as part of the reforms lacked adequate objectivity.
The Luxembourg-based court criticized Poland's decision to make public judges' affiliations with political parties or charities, saying that this violated their right to privacy and "liable to expose judges to risks of undue stigmatization.".
The court declared on Monday that "the December 2019 Polish justice reform violates EU law.". It also reaffirmed the idea that different states could not defy its decisions.
The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, fined Poland 1 million euros per day in 2021 for failing to suspend the new disciplinary chamber of the supreme court.
Critics claimed it was being used as retaliation against judges who had opposed the government's changes to the judiciary.
Poland was referred to the court by the European Commission earlier this year.
Poland may now be subject to additional EU fines if it chooses not to modify certain aspects of its judicial reforms, as a result of Monday's decision. .
The decision was made one day after protest marches in Warsaw and other cities.
The right-wing government, according to the opposition, is undermining democratic standards, including the rule of law.
Additionally, the EU threatened to take action against Poland last week after the Polish parliament approved a new commission that could prevent people with ties to Russia from holding public office.
