On 22 April 2020, the ENCJ Board has sent a draft Position Paper to the KRS of Poland, setting out the proposed expulsion of KRS from the ENCJ.

In a letter dated 21 February the Executive Board of the ENCJ asked the Polish Council for the Judicary (KRS) to clarify their position and actions in relation to recent developments. The Executive Board will decide, taking into account the replies of KRS, whether to propose the expulsion of the KRS to the ENCJ General Assembly. 

In a letter dated 21 Feburary 2020, the Presidents of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary, the Network of Presidents of the Supreme Courts of the EU and the European Judges Association call for an urgent meeting with President Von der Leyen on the Rule of Law crisis in Poland.  

On 30 January 2020, the Presidents of the ENCJ, the network of Presidents of the Supreme Courts of the EU and the European Judges Association met the Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Ms Vera Jourova and the Commisioner for Justice Mr Didier Reynders. 

Introduction
In recent years the Executive Board of the ENCJ had expressed repeatedly its serious concerns about developments regarding the independence of the judiciary in Poland. The Executive Board refers to its statements of 30 January 2017, 17 July 2017, 13 October 2017, 5 December 2017, and 17 September 2018. No steps were taken to allay the concerns expressed or to redress the problem identified.

The data of the ENCJ/CCBE  survey on the independence of the judiciary among lawyers are now available in a separate report. Just like the survey among judges on their own independence, the survey w

The data of the ENCJ/CCBE  survey on the independence of the judiciary among lawyers are now available in a separate report. Just like the survey among judges on their own independence, the survey w

The data of the ENCJ survey among judges are now available in a separate report. The survey was held in early 2019 in 25 countries and 11.335 judges participated. The replies are grouped per country.Judges generally evaluate their independence positively. On a 10-point scale judges rate the independence of the judges in their country on average between 6.5 and 9.8.

In a letter dated 20 September 2019, the Presidents of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary, the Network of Presidents of the Supreme Courts of the EU and the European Judges Association expressed their concern over developments in several EU Member States regarding the independence of the judiciary. The Presidents call for an urgent meeting with Mrs von der Leyen. 

In a letter dated 8 August the ENCJ Board called upon the Polish Parliament, the Sejm, to make the support lists of the judicial members of the KRS publis as has been ordered by the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland in a recent judgement.