The Court is dead, long live the courts?: On judicial review in Poland in 2017 and "judicial space" beyond

Abstract

How should Polish judges respond, now that the Constitutional Court is being used in the day-to-day politics, and keeps delivering goods for its political masters? We have to be unequivocal here. Any future decisions taken by the "fake Court" with the "fake" judges sitting on the cases will be marred by invalidity. The ordinary judges will have a valid claim not to follow these rulings. Should they decide to follow decisions made with the participation of, or made by, "fake" judges, their own proceedings will be vitiated by invalidity.