Judge Łukasz Biliński has won his case against Poland before the European Court of Human Rights. The judgment was delivered following an application lodged with the Court in November 2019. The Judge was represented before the Strasbourg Court by advocates from the Pietrzak Sidor & Wspólnicy Law Firm: Małgorzata Mączka-Pacholak and Mikołaj Pietrzak.

– This is a precedent-setting judgment. For the first time, the ECtHR examined a complaint brought by a Polish judge whose official duties were changed against his will. The Court clearly emphasised that in such cases it is essential to protect judges against arbitrariness in decision-making and to ensure access to an appropriate appeal procedure before an impartial body – comments adv. Małgorzata Mączka-Pacholak.

Until 2019, Judge Biliński adjudicated at the District Court for Warsaw-Śródmieście in Warsaw, handling numerous misdemeanour cases, including those concerning freedom of assembly. Some of his rulings were perceived as unfavourable to the government, and he was publicly criticised by politicians from the ruling party. Without seeking the opinion of the collegiate body of the Regional Court, the President of the court transferred Judge Biliński to the 3rd Family and Juvenile Division. His appeal against that decision to the National Council of the Judiciary was dismissed.

In its judgment of 15 January, a Chamber composed of seven judges found that Poland had violated Article 6 § 1 (the right of access to a court) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court held that the decision to transfer the applicant had not been subject to review by a body exercising judicial functions or by an ordinary court. Furthermore, in order to safeguard judicial independence, the guarantees applicable to compulsory transfers of judges between different courts must also apply to compulsory transfers between divisions of the same court dealing with different areas of law. By way of just satisfaction for non-pecuniary damage, Poland was ordered to pay the applicant EUR 20,000, as well as EUR 6,000 in respect of costs and expenses.