Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal plunged into crisis on Friday evening after judges elected by parliament suspended its president, prompting President Karol Nawrocki to force his way into the building, according to Euronews. The Polish Constitutional Tribunal crisis now centres on who controls the court and whether those moves were lawful.
According to Euronews, seven judges chosen by the Sejm entered the tribunal accompanied by State Protection Service officers, before the court’s top judge was suspended. Guardian World reports that a group of government-appointed judges suspended Tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski and deputy Bartłomiej Sochański.
Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced she was taking over the tribunal’s leadership and suspending Święczkowski, Euronews reports. The current leadership has challenged the legality of these moves.
Nawrocki cut short a state visit to Senegal and returned to Poland, then arrived at the tribunal, where footage showed him pushing past judges, Euronews reports. In a statement read by chief of staff Paweł Szefernaker, he called the events a breach of Poland’s constitutional order and a forcible takeover, and urged government forces to leave.
Police said they detained three people after some protesters breached the tribunal’s fence and others threw objects at officers, according to Guardian World. Reports differ on the size of the crowd. France 24 says dozens of protesters gathered on Friday, while Guardian World says hundreds gathered outside the building, including opposition MPs.
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said he had asked for Święczkowski and Sochański to be stripped of immunity so they could face prosecution for obstructing the court’s work, Guardian World reports.
The legality of the suspension and the takeover is disputed. Nawrocki and the Law and Justice party (PiS) say the actions were an unlawful takeover and an assault on the court. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski say the moves restore the rule of law. Guardian World reports that experts are deeply divided, and that Marcin Matczak says the legal basis for the suspension is "non-existent".
The dispute dates to 2015, when outgoing and incoming governments moved in quick succession to stack the bench with their own appointees, paralysing the court. Nawrocki has refused to swear in five judges elected by the current parliament. The Venice Commission said this refusal should not stop those judges from taking up their posts.
Tusk said restoring the rule of law "is our duty". The court’s contested status is also a key issue ahead of next year’s parliamentary election.
Nawrocki planned emergency talks with parliamentary political groups on Saturday. Żurek hopes prosecutors will investigate the incident. The tribunal must decide who leads it and resume its work.
Several gaps remain. No independent source has confirmed what happened inside the building, and Guardian World quotes the US ambassador saying that the two sides give sharply different accounts. Neither Święczkowski nor Sochański has responded to the suspension or the immunity request in the sources reviewed. The number of detainees is given as three, while other reporting says several, and no source confirms whether prosecutors have opened an investigation. The outcome of Saturday’s talks is not yet reported. This article relies mainly on Euronews and Guardian World, and the France 24 account available was a short excerpt.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.