That's disputed, which is the point.
But it's clear they were politically motivated actions to stack the Supreme Court with an ultramajority of Judges of their own liking. Just as PiS did after the fact.
Opening that rabbit hole requires some nuance and objectivity, it's not nearly as one sided as it's presented in some media.
Using words like 'disputed' and talking about previous govenrment shinenigans being responsible in any way for the current state of affairs is true 'false equivalence'.
That doesn't say anything about what the current government has done, or is doing, but contrary to your statement, it's irresponsible not to look at the Judicial crisis outside the context in which it was created, especially in the popular press.
How that's related to legality of their own actions? Obvious solution was to reselect 2 judges who were selected illegally by previous parliament, but they willfully reselected all 5 including these chosen correctly previously. This itself was decided by court (K 34/15), but they just ignored that ruling.
Our former head of the Constitutional Court says otherwise, that through ratification of the EU Treaty of Lisbon we have accepted that ECJ decisions and EU law have primacy over national law.
If a bunch of nations are going to get into a kind of Federal Union, and have a 'court' of some kind, wouldn't it be extremely prudent to parameterize what exactly those authorities are?
If you were the PM/Pres or Supreme Court Judge of any country, wouldn't you think it would be the most obvious and important thing to make it very clear and spelled out in law and treaty?
If the framers of the EU actually wanted to hand over 'Judicial Supremacy' to the ECJ, would they, you know actually write that down?
And absence of it being clear, why on god's green earth would nations hand over a fundamental right, one of the pillars of Liberal Democracy, over to a different institution.
Any and all 'decisions' made otherwise, are hugely indirect and speculative i.e. "Well, we signed treaties with the EU after the ECJ declared Supremacy, therefore, they have Supremacy' is still very indirect.
It's one of the more mind-boggling aspects of EU governance, and if you start to take a slightly cynical look at it, it doesn't look good.
The most pragmatic reason for why the ECJ was never explicitly given power was because: it would be illegal, it would cause major uproar in nation states, it would never pass. So what they did was 'allowed' the ECJ to make a little ruling claiming authority, and then as generations go by, as local courts pile on the deferring agreements, it just 'becomes a reality'.
That's a big speculation of course, but there's just no logic at all for nations handing over Judicial authority without it being fairly clear.
If they were 'nitpicking' at 'some narrow issue' - then fine. There is always ambiguity. But this is not that, it's more fundamental.
It's truly bizarre.
And FYI this is not a resolved issue (See Germany: [1]) and there's still a lot going on.
Also worth a glance [2]
In terms of PiS shenanigans, nuance does matter, I don't think we can just be populist and say 'oh they rejected ECJ Supremacy which is ridiculous and evil' kind of thing. All of these issues are a bit tricky.
I think a lot of people in Europe just think that the ECJ naturally has Supremacy, just like a regular Supreme Court, because that's what was agreed to and Poland is 'off their rocker' - like a US State ignoring a US Supreme Curt ruling. It's not the case though. People would be very surprised at the odd reality.
[1] https://www.politico.eu/article/commission-sues-germany-esca...
[2] https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/10/law-tool-eu-integration...
If there is no treaty validating ECJ Supremacy, then that's it. Even a 'statement' or 'interpretation' by an Judge or Expert will be called into question.
Also - you may despair in the short run for the authoritative nature of 'Hungary' but there is a much bigger issue and that is the consolidation of power at the EU level.
Hungary has elections for it's leaders.
The EU does not.
You did not vote for Ursula Von Der Leyen. She was not a candidate, and was totally unknown outside Germany before the election. She was not vetted. She had little public history. Voters did not select her.
She was chosen in a backroom deal: "Here is your new President. We selected her for you. You will find about her platform, later, we hope you like it because obviously you didn't vote for it". Ursula von der Layen layed out her vision for EU long after voters even knew who she was.
The EU Treaties only in 2007 even require the selection of the Pres. to even barely take into consideration the 'recommendation' of MEPs, even then, they have no power. MEPs cannot introduce legislation or sanction leaders.
The EU is the least democratic 'layer' of European governance, combined with the fact that it is at the 'top' and sometimes has the most authority, is a pretty scary thing in terms of the balance of power.
So the EU is 'good for dealing with PiS' yes, probably. But there are other, broader issue.
In Russia people vote for the president, but that does not matter much - what matters is who owns the press and counts the votes. Which is exactly what PiS and Fidesz did: they owned the press. And PiS also messed withe the judges and quite openly admitted to having bough spyware which was used to spy on the opposition. That's the difference between the EU, Poland and Hungary.
> wouldn't it be extremely prudent to parameterize what exactly those authorities are?
TFEU
The ECJ decisions are actually more like recommendations on how the local courts should act.
Countries that don't follow the rulings can't complain if they're suspended from EU resources and mechanisms while that is not solved, like having their exports blocked, be removed from Schengen, etc. (And if they don't like it they're free to complain to the walls since they don't recognize the ECJ...)
ECJ rulings are the law of the land as far as they see it, not a 'recommendation'.
There are no rules around sanctions etc. for countries that don't 'comply'.
It's just 'make it up as they go along'.
The problem is: there is no treaty basis for ECJ Supremacy. By opening that can of worms, the EU may find themselves with a 'big losing hand' and more affirmatively lose their power.
As I pointed out in the previous comments, the issue is unsettled even in Germany.
You are right they made a political move because they politicized and tribalized everything in the regime. Constitution is nothing but a tool for them. The law is optional. I think you give them too much credit in believing they understand at all what they are doing. My sensation is that the polish democratic institutions were too young and people too insensitive to the concepts of checks and balances to see the real damage being done. The social rifts are huge as well. On a country that prides itself on its identity and tenacity after the war, it is all a sad tragedy. As an imigrant to Poland it is extremely sad some of the divergences happening at a Christmas table. For what? No ruling party is there for ever. It is all just childishness. Sorry for the rant, it's just that I just received my new year's salary and it comes with a nice 7% net decrease due to the amazing polski ład tax "bonus".
Some, like (I guess) your native Portugal are great at compliance with the EU and allegiance to the socialist principles.
I consider my bad mouthing a service because contrary to what might look like, Poland's path is very similar to Portugal. The only difference is that Portugal has good diplomacy(another failure of the current rulers). Rule following, strong institutions and checks and balances are all for foreigners to see in Portugal. Portugal has the gall to diplomaticly promote integration of foreigners and refugees, to then beat them to death on government premises.
More, the model of putting the working class' wealth working for subsidies for the elders and non workers voting blocks is a classic move in Portugal. Everybody knows the population is aging and that the elderly's priorities are low catch fruit,due to their needs being short term in nature. Poland has everything to not fall into the middle income trap, specifically a very highly educated work force and a strategic position between a lot of prosperous countries.
To finalize i owe no allegiance to socialism and left the country exactly to remove myself from its vice. I find it hard to believe you conflate birth with ideological allegiance. I owe no allegiance to no institution but my family and myself. Unfortunately I did not choose where I am born not where my family is. If we did not have roots here and the language barrier in other European countries was not significant we could have packed, and already froze further commitments here unsure a polexit would wash away our way of living. One thing I picked up from polish experiences in world War 2 is that one should be ready to flee. I call it living like a jew after world War 2. Do not get caught.
I like a lot to live here and would not return to Portugal except on vacations with family and friends and even then...
1) the 'Supreme / Constitutional Court' issue is not nearly as 'one sided'. There were terrible shenanigans played by 'the other side' prior to their departure, which originated that crisis. While I have little faith in PiS, they had legitimate concerns as least to provide cover for some of their own actions.
and item 4) "It defies EU who says member countries must have EU law supremacy" - sorry to burst your bubble but that is reality. There is no treaty or law that gives ECJ 'Supremacy'. The ECJ in 1964 [1] made a ruling on their own jurisdiction and 'declared supremacy'. There is no legislative or treaty basis for quite the authority they assigned to themselves. Some local courts in the EU (i.e. France) have started to defer to the ruling, therefore legitimizing it, but it's still a 'Giant Problem' in the legal foundation of the EU. It was a big 'non populist' issue for Brexit, not really talked about in the media because regular citizens don't care but it was definitely an issue among the elites, and, it's still a contentious issue in Germany (and other places), where the Supremacy of ECJ is still not effectively recognized and it's a 'grey area'.
But yes, it's a serious problem overall, we can agree.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacy_of_European_Union_law