Poland's Constitutional Tribunal in leadership turmoil as judge moves to suspend its president

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, the court that can strike down legislation, fell into a leadership crisis on Friday evening. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska ordered the court's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy suspended for one month and announced that she was taking charge. Święczkowski rejected her authority and described the move as a coup d'état, while his deputy was turned away at the building's gates. The episode marks a new stage in Prime Minister Donald Tusk's effort to undo the judicial overhaul carried out by the previous government.

Background

The nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) held power for eight years and filled the tribunal with its appointees, including Święczkowski and his deputy. The court helped impose a near-total abortion ban and challenged the supremacy of EU law, placing it at the centre of the dispute between Warsaw and Brussels over the rule of law. Last December, the EU's top court ruled that it did not meet European standards of judicial independence.

Attempts to change the tribunal's makeup have met resistance. President Karol Nawrocki, a PiS ally and rival of Tusk, refused to swear in five judges elected by Tusk's parliamentary majority. They took their oaths in parliament instead, but Święczkowski barred them from hearing cases.

Protests and reactions

Outside the building, protesters clashed with police. Officers said objects were thrown at them and three people were detained after climbing over the court's fence. Police said they had deployed after warnings of threats to judges and staff, but had not entered the building.

PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński joined the protest and tried to force his way in. He accused Tusk of staging a coup and turning Poland into a police state, and demanded presidential intervention. Nawrocki cut short an official trip to Senegal, saying: "At a moment like this, the president must be in Poland."

Tusk wrote on X that restoring the rule of law is the government's duty, calling it a difficult and sometimes painful process requiring decisive action. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek blamed Święczkowski, accusing him of turning the institution into his "private fiefdom". Żurek, who is also prosecutor general, said he had submitted five requests to lift the immunity of Święczkowski and his deputy, backed by 50 volumes of case files. He said the decision was made by a legally appointed judge and that the government had nothing to do with it.