09 March 2020
The Norweigan government has halted cooperation with the Polish judiciary on the grounds that the legal environment in the latter country does not meet the necessary standards.
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"The so-called “muzzle law”, adopted by the Polish parliament on January 23, was the last straw. On Thursday 27 February, the board of the Norwegian Court Administration (NCA) decided to withdraw from its planned cooperation with Poland under the justice programme of the EEA and Norway Grants, due to concerns over the Polish justice reforms.
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In a statement published on the NCA website, the director of the NCA stated that the bilateral cooperation could not continue since “basic European standards for legal security are no longer present” in Poland. The director referred to criticism of the Polish justice reforms by the Venice Commission, the OSCE and the EU Commission, and concluded that the political control of Polish courts is now so extensive that the NCA and the Norwegian courts could no longer continue their cooperation with Poland within the EEA and Norway Grants justice programme. Crucially, the director voiced concern that Norway’s cooperation with Poland in the justice field might be considered as an acceptance of the recent justice reforms in Poland."
For Norway it’s Official: The Rule of Law is No More in Poland (Verfassungsblog, link)
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