Keeping Safe Distance: Chapters from Randomised (Non)Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights before Polish Constitutional Tribunal

Abstract

The question of the application and impact of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (‘Charter’) in quotidian practice of human rights protection and review is a strategic one. Given the predominantly decentralised effects of EU law and with the due account to the wide interpretation of the scope of the Charter’s application (Art. 51(1)) presented by the CJEU (C-617/10 Fransson), the national dimension of the application of the Charter forms the crucial issue for the functioning of the EU system of fundamental rights protection. The Charter itself has a big potential to influence the content, nature and mechanisms of the fundamental rights protection at the national level. The present paper focuses on this phenomena in connection to the case-law, opinions and workload of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (‘TK’). It analyses the approach of TK towards the Charter in abstract manner as well as the (non)appearance of the Charter in the reasoning of the court in concrete cases. The article reports on the main cases and analyses the reasons of the aloof approach of the TK towards the EU human rights catalogue.