The Polish Constitutional Tribunal Crisis from the Perspective of the European Convention on Human Rights: ECtHR 7 May 2021, No. 4907/18, Xero Flor w Polsce sp. z o.o. v Poland

Abstract

This case note analyses the judgment issued by the European Court of Human Rights on 7 May 2021 in Application No. 4907/18, Xero Flor w Polsce sp. z o.o. v Poland. In this judgment, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the participation of an unlawfully elected person on the panel of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal that discontinued proceedings on the constitutional complaint filed by a private applicant led to a violation of Article 6 of the ECHR. The Strasbourg Court’s judgment is of fundamental importance for several reasons. First, it clarified the scope of applicability of Article 6 to constitutional courts and contributed to the Court’s case law on the right to a tribunal established by law, which has been developing rapidly since the landmark ruling in Ástráðsson v Iceland.