Abstract

The National Appeals Chamber (KIO) is a non-judicial body with jurisdictional competences. Its right to refer preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union depends on that court’s assessment of its status. There is a real risk that the current assessment will be changed and that there will be a refusal to recognise the KIO as a court within the meaning of Article 267 TFEU. In order to prevent this, but also to reinforce the right to a fair trial, it is necessary to look at the process of reforming the chamber and gradually bringing its status closer to that of a regional court. First of all, the provisions on dismissing KIO members, appointing the President of the Chamber and its vice-presidents, the official authority of the President of the Chamber over its members and reporting on the functioning of the KIO should be changed. Then the Chamber should be separated from the structures of the government administration, becoming a fully independent jurisdictional body. The culmination of the reform should be the transformation of the KIO into a regional court, which should be preceded by the transfer of judicial control of the Chamber to the level of a court of appeal.