Jean Monnet Chair and Lead Researcher of the Rule of Law in Europe project, Susana Sanz, participated in this seminar, organized by Latin American and European universities.
At the International Seminar ‘Redefining Agendas and New Actors in the Current (Dis)order of the International System’, organized by the Jean Monnet Chairs of the Universities of Externado (Colombia), Concepción (Chile), and Salerno (Italy), Professor Sanz Caballero was invited to present a lecture titled ‘The National Council of the Judiciary: An Actor in Poland, Implications for Europe’.
The professor focused her presentation on explaining how certain actors without any international nature can become international actors, sometimes in a positive way and sometimes negatively. In the case of the Polish National Council of the Judiciary, the reform that took place in 2017 resulted in a severe violation of judicial independence and a gradual dismantling of the rule of law in the country.
Dr. Sanz explained the new composition of this entity, the detrimental consequences of judges appointed by this illegitimate body, and the harmful effects of this situation.
She also made a comparison between the Polish National Council of the Judiciary and the Spanish General Council of the Judiciary, as Spain and Poland are the only two countries in the EU where the majority of their Judicial Council members are not appointed by judges but by the parliament. In this sense, these two countries represent an anomaly in Europe because, in the rest of the European states, the norm is that judges are appointed by their peers, not by politicians.
The professor concluded by predicting a potential improvement in Poland due to the results of the recent general elections, which seem to favor the liberal bloc, while the situation in Spain with the blockage of the General Council of the Judiciary appears to worsen every day.
During the international seminar, the 11th edition of the Colección Ius Cogens was presented, in which Professor Sanz contributed a chapter. The seminar was inaugurated by Professor Eric Tremolada from the Externado de Colombia, and the conclusion was delivered by the EU Ambassador to Colombia, Gilles Bertrand.
Speakers from Spain, Italy, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, and Brazil attended this seminar to discuss various aspects of EU-Latin America relations in the context of redefining agendas and the emergence of new international actors.
