Police Guard Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal Amid Judicial Showdown

Polish police have entered the grounds of the Constitutional Tribunal and deployed around its Warsaw premises after demonstrators protested the suspension of the court’s president, Bogdan Swieczkowski. The standoff is the latest escalation in a long-running struggle between Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government and the right-wing Law and Justice party, or PiS. Swieczkowski’s suspension was announced on Friday, with Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska placed in temporary charge.

Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said he had asked for the immunity of Swieczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański to be lifted so they could face criminal charges. He accused them of preventing judges elected by the present parliamentary majority from performing their duties. Police said three people were detained after members of the crowd launched what authorities described as dangerous projectiles.

The demonstrations were attended by PiS supporters, some of whom tried to breach security barriers. Officers were positioned to stop protesters entering the court building. The tribunal disputed the government’s account.

Its social-media account said Swieczkowski and Sochański remained the legally appointed senior judges and described the actions against them as a “coup d’etat”. Former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, a PiS ally, called the suspension a criminal attack on Poland’s constitutional order. Tusk defended the intervention, saying restoring the rule of law was the government’s responsibility after years of PiS-led lawlessness.

His Civic Coalition administration has pledged to depoliticise the judiciary and reverse changes made by PiS, which governed from 2015 to 2023 and appointed judges who gave the party influence over the tribunal. The dispute has been complicated by President Karol Nawrocki, who is backed by PiS. He refused to swear in several judges elected by parliament and turned his plane back to Warsaw while travelling to Senegal, saying the president needed to be in Poland.

One of the judges he rejected, Korwin-Piotrowska, was nevertheless placed in charge of the tribunal. European courts have previously ruled that three judges appointed during the PiS period were selected improperly and concluded that the Constitutional Tribunal was no longer an independent and impartial body. The European Union’s concerns have formed part of Tusk’s justification for not publishing some tribunal rulings and for seeking to undo the PiS-era arrangements.

The government’s approach has also faced criticism from legal experts who oppose the earlier judicial reforms. Lawyer Marcin Matczak said Swieczkowski’s suspension had no legal basis and warned that images of armed police at the court could create a long-term backlash against the rule of law. Poland’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for next year, adding political pressure to a dispute that has already paralysed the tribunal and deepened the divide between the government, presidency and opposition.