On Friday evening, protesters and riot police faced off outside Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal after the court’s president was suspended, the latest episode in an intensifying stand-off between the government and the court’s top judges.
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Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who cut short a trip to Senegal and headed back to Warsaw as the crisis unfolded, has since called for emergency talks with political leaders and has accused the government of attempting to forcibly take control of one of the country’s key constitutional institutions.
The dramatic overnight events have escalated a long-running crisis surrounding Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, from which the Polish government has been trying for weeks to remove judges – who were appointed under the previous PiS government.
What had largely been a political and legal dispute over judicial appointments and the Tribunal’s leadership has now spilled over into a direct confrontation at its headquarters.
The latest episode began when seven people chosen by the Sejm to serve as Constitutional Tribunal judges entered the building on Friday.
According to Tribunal spokesperson Weronika Ścibor, security guards at the Tribunal had been ordered to pack up their belongings and leave the building.
At the same time Bogdan Święczkowski, the Tribunal’s incumbent president, and vice-president Bartłomiej Sochański, were reportedly denied entry.
Ścibor suggested that the timing of the operation was deliberate and that it took advantage of the fact that some staff members were absent.
Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska subsequently announced that she was taking over the leadership of the Tribunal and suspending Święczkowski from his duties.
The current Tribunal leadership has challenged the legality of these moves.
Nawrocki returns
In response to the unfolding situation, Nawrocki cut short a visit to Senegal and returned to Poland.
At the presidential palace, he met First President of the Supreme Court Zbigniew Kapiński before heading on to the Constitutional Tribunal’s headquarters with Kapiński and a group of aides.
Footage posted on X showed scuffles break out with a group of judges, including Korwin-Piotrowska, as Nawrocki attempted to gain entry.
Nawrocki accuses government of power grab
Early on Saturday morning, Nawrocki’s chief of staff, Paweł Szefernaker, read out a statement from the president in front of the Tribunal, in which he described the night’s events as a breach of Poland’s constitutional order and a forcible takeover of a constitutional institution.
“Tonight, there has been a breach of the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland and a forcible takeover of a constitutional organ of the state,” Szefernaker said.
“I call for the restoration of the legal order and for the forces of coercion sent there by the government to leave the Tribunal’s grounds,” he added.
Nawrocki said he had consulted with Kapiński and that neither of them recognised the actions of those who, in his view, are unlawfully claiming authority in the Tribunal.
He said he planned to hold emergency talks with representatives of parliamentary political groups on Saturday, saying the move was necessary due to what he described as a threat to the state’s internal security and the need to stabilise the political situation.
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek has also weighed in on the incident, expressing concerns about the president’s behaviour.
“The president’s behaviour alarmed me enormously,” he said, adding that he hoped the prosecution service would take action and that it was unacceptable for someone protected by presidential immunity to behave in such a way.
He argued that footage showed the president “forcing his way in and attacking the judges.”
Żurek also acknowledged that talks had been held about the situation at the Tribunal, including with Bartłomiej Sochański, but that no compromise had been reached.
He stressed that the Tribunal should resume normal work and deal with citizens’ outstanding cases.
Protest outside Tribunal
Protests were held around the Tribunal building, involving politicians from PiS and Confederation and right-wing supporters.
Among those present were party leader Jarosław Kaczyński, Mateusz Morawiecki, former Tribunal president Julia Przyłębska and Bogdan Święczkowski.
The PiS leader said the events were an assault on the Constitutional Tribunal. He called for protests to continue, warning that Poland risked turning into a police state.
PiS MEP Patryk Jaki, for his part, said that images from the Tribunal had already gone around the world and could damage the image of Donald Tusk’s government.
