Participants show the light of their mobile phones and wave EU flags over a large Polish flag as they take part in a pro-EU demonstration following a ruling of the Constitutional Court against the primacy of EU law in Poland, in front of the Royal Castle at the central square in Warsaw on Oct 10, 2021. (WOJTEK RADWANSKI / AFP)

BRUSSELS – The top court of the European Union on Wednesday fined Poland one million euros (US$1.16 million) per day for ignoring an EU ruling that called for the suspension of the country's Supreme Court disciplinary chamber.

The decision by the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) is the latest episode in a clash between Poland and the EU institutions over the rule of law.

READ MORE: European Parliament calls for sanctions on Poland

The bone of contention is the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, which has the power to discipline judges

The European Commission had requested the financial penalty until the Polish government acts to improve the functioning of the Polish Supreme Court and suspends new laws deemed to undermine judicial independence.

The bone of contention is the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, which has the power to discipline judges. Some Polish judges view the chamber as a tool to pressure judges to rule in favor of the governing authorities.

In July, the ECJ ordered the suspension of the disciplinary chamber as an interim measure until a final decision on the matter. However, this was ignored, so the European Commission filed yet another application for financial penalties to be imposed on Poland.

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In its decision, the ECJ's vice president said that the dismantling of the chamber of judges "is necessary to avoid serious and irreparable harm to the legal order of the European Union and, consequently, to the rights which individuals derive from EU law and the values on which the Union is founded, in particular, that of the rule of law."