ABSTRACT – For the first time, in the judgment Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa, the Court of Justice has declared inadmissible a request for a preliminary ruling made by the Polish Supreme Court due to irregularities in the appointment procedure of the members of the panel adjudicating in the national proceeding. The case raises once again the delicate issue of defining the relations between the independence criterion as part of the notion of ‘court or tribunal’ under article 267 TFUE and the Court’s case law on the principle of judicial independence based on articles 19 TEU and 47 of the Charter. This comment critically analyses the partial overlap between the different strands of the Court’s case law on judicial independence, which lies at the basis of the judgment Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa, in light of the different functions performed by the independence requirement under articles 267 TFEU, 19 TEU and 47 of the Charter.
