The European Commission dropped its annual Rule of Law report on July 8 — there’s a lot to read and digest. The implementation stats aren’t exactly impressive but dig a little deeper and the picture gets more concerning. A few immediate reflections: 🧵 1/

Discussing Comm v Hungary: AG Ćapeta Opinion published today at @alinatryfonidou.bsky.social seminar in🇬🇧London: curia.europa.eu/juris/docume... ❗️What an honour to see my work with @grabowskamoroz.bsky.social & @kimlanelaw.bsky.social cited in the Opinion‼️ @ceudeminst.bsky.social

Latest action from @goodlobbyprofs.bsky.social: In short, we lodged a complaint with @ec.europa.eu under the Conditionality Regulation requesting the activation of this instrument in relation to the deliberate & systemic deterioration of the #ruleoflaw in Slovakia www.thegoodlobby.eu/the-good-lob...

The ICC’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen. American staffers at the court have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest. NGOs have stopped working with the ICC, the leader of one won’t even reply to ICC emails.

🇵🇱⚖️🇪🇺 Easily lost in yesterday's news about the landmark CJEU Maltese golden passports judgment is AG Spielmann's opinion on the independence of Polish "neo-judges" in ordinary courts, which has potentially explosive consequences if the Court sides with the AG on this one. 1/

Perhaps the most crucial bit of trivia in this case is that the Polish government is aided in this case by my friend and re:constitution programme fellow @grabowskamoroz.bsky.social who argued pretty much along the lines AG took - great work, Basia! 13/

In opting for this solution, the Polish government has decided against an individual verification of each "neo-judge". This is a mistake, in my view, as I believe Poland is more than capable of reviewing those people in a reasonable time frame. 14/

Today is April Fool's Day but unfortunately this isn't a joke. In exactly one month, we are likely to lose our major source of funding. We are urgently appealing to our readers to help save Notes from Poland by donating to our non-profit foundation.

I decided to start a #thread 🧵 of stories about legal residents and tourists being (illegally) arrested, detained and/or deported by the Trump regime. I'll only post stories from serious sources, as rumors and conspiracies are really not needed in this authoritarian moment.

🇵🇱⚖️🇦🇱 Last week, the Congress of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts took place in Tirana, Albania. Here’s the group pic of the participants, and you get no points for guessing which one is the new Polish Constitutional Tribunal President, Bogdan Święczkowski. Why is this a problem? 1/

Orbán is currently the oly EU leader disrupting EU unity, and its clear and strong support for Zelensky and Ukraine. A disgrace for Hungary.

Hungarian judges are closing their ranks ahead of the 22 February protest for judicial independence. High-ranking judges offer legal protection to their protesting colleagues, and András Baka, the protagonist of Baka v Hungary (a seminal ECtHR ruling), is rumoured to be speaking. 🏛️

Czechia 🇨🇿 became the first EU member state to formally request to join the European Commission's case at the CJEU against Hungary's controversial Sovereignty Protection Act as a third party. www.euractiv.com/section/poli...

🇭🇺Budapest next Monday (January 27): join the next Count Kalergi seminar @grabowskamoroz.bsky.social and I run. The speaker is Max Steuer of 🇮🇳Jindal Global Law School, introduced by Elena Basheska. The great András Sajó is our discussant. Room 303, 3pm. events.ceu.edu/2025-01-27/r...

Save the date: @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social is delighted to welcome Professor @kimlanelaw.bsky.social to deliver the annual John M Kelly Memorial Lecture with the title "#Democracy in Danger: The Global Challenge of Autocratic Legalism" on Thursday, 3 April 2025 www.eventbrite.ie/e/ucd-john-m...

EU auditors say the European Commission takes too long to conclude infringement cases.

I am at this ECHR today for a rather interesting case of Vasilică-Cristi Danileţ, a former Romanian judge who became a bit of an influencer (50,000 FB followers) and then got himself in hot water for posting about attacks on the judiciary in his country.

CEU DI Rule of Law Clinic submitted an amicus brief in Danileţ v. Romania case. TPI was prepared by one and only @profpech.bsky.social #ECHR will hold a hearing in this case today. ➡️ ruleoflawclinic.com/third-party-...

Thank you, @grabowskamoroz.bsky.social and @profkochenov.bsky.social, for the opportunity to present on the promise of the European Media Freedom Act in safeguarding media freedom in the EU to a group of journalists from across the continent. It's always a pleasure to revisit CEU Budapest.

Today at 5 pm - webinar about rule of law, costs of judicial resistance and implementing Wałęsa case. Register at events.ceu.edu/2024-11-27/r... Webinar organized by CEU DI Rule of Law Clinic @revdem2020.bsky.social and Bingham Center for the Rule of Law.