Case C-225/22, AW T: Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 4 September 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Sąd Apelacyjny w Krakowie – Poland) – R S.A. v AW T sp. z o.o. (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Rule of law – Independence of judges – Second subparagraph of Article 19(1) TEU – Effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law – National legislation and case-law prohibiting national courts from calling into question the legitimacy of constitutional courts and bodies or from establishing or assessing the lawfulness of the appointment of judges of those courts or bodies – Verification, by a lower court, of compliance by a higher court with requirements relating to the guarantee of an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law – Izba Kontroli Nadzwyczajnej i Spraw Publicznych (Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs) of the Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court, Poland) – Body that does not constitute an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law – Primacy of EU law – Possibility of declaring a judicial decision to be null and void)
Date: 2025-09-04
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: appointment of staff, constitutional court, disciplinary proceedings, higher court, human rights, independence of the judiciary, judge, primacy of EU law, right to justice, ruling








C_202505547EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5547


27.10.2025






Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 4 September 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Sąd Apelacyjny w Krakowie – Poland) – ‘R’ S.A. v AW ‘T’ sp. z o.o.


(Case C-225/22,
                (1)
AW ‘T’)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Rule of law - Independence of judges - Second subparagraph of Article 19(1) TEU - Effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law - National legislation and case-law prohibiting national courts from calling into question the legitimacy of constitutional courts and bodies or from establishing or assessing the lawfulness of the appointment of judges of those courts or bodies - Verification, by a lower court, of compliance by a higher court with requirements relating to the guarantee of an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law - Izba Kontroli Nadzwyczajnej i Spraw Publicznych (Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs) of the Sąd Najwyższy (Supreme Court, Poland) - Body that does not constitute an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law - Primacy of EU law - Possibility of declaring a judicial decision to be null and void)
(C/2025/5547)
Language of the case: Polish

Referring court

Sąd Apelacyjny w Krakowie

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant:
            ‘R’ S.A.

Respondent: AW ‘T’ sp. z o.o.

Operative part of the judgment







1.


The second subparagraph of Article 19(1) TEU, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter, and the principle of primacy of EU law,
must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State and case-law of the constitutional court of that Member State under which a national court is required to comply with a decision delivered by a formation of a higher court, where, on the basis of a decision of the Court of Justice, that national court finds that one or more judges forming part of that panel of judges do not meet the requirements of independence, impartiality and previous establishment by law, within the meaning of that provision, and that, in addition, it is prevented, under national law, from verifying the regularity of the composition of that panel of judges on the basis of the same factors as those taken into account in that decision of the Court of Justice.










2.


The second subparagraph of Article 19(1) TEU, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter,
must be interpreted as meaning that, in a situation where it is found, on the basis of a decision of the Court of Justice, that a judicial body of last instance does not satisfy the requirements of independence, impartiality and previous establishment by law, for the purposes of that provision, a decision taken by such a body, by which the case concerned is referred back to a lower court for re-examination, must be regarded as null and void, where such a consequence is essential in view of the procedural situation at issue in order to ensure the primacy of EU law.






(1)  
            OJ C 284, 25.7.2022.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/5547/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)