Poland was plunged into a political crisis on Saturday, after the suspension of the country's constitutional tribunal chief escalated a battle between Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist government and the nationalist right for control of the judiciary. The crisis spilled onto the streets as protests erupted around the tribunal in Warsaw late Friday, with President Karol Nawrocki making a mid-air return to Poland.
Poland's constitutional tribunal on Friday announced that its longest-serving judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, had suspended the tribunal's president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, and taken charge of the court.
Swieczkowski was appointed during the tenure of the previous Law and Justice party (PiS) government, which was in power from 2015 to 2023. Tusk's pro-European goverment has been seeking to reform the tribunal and remove judges appointed by the former nationalist government, arguing that the court's independence needs to be restored. The European Union has in the past accused the court of being too close to the nationalist party, specifically when PiS was in power.
The suspension triggered protests, with right-wing leaders accusing Tusk's government of staging a “coup.” The escalating standoff also prompted Polish President Nawrocki, an ally of PiS, to cut short his official visit to Senegal.
Suspension triggers protests, riot police deployed
Riot police was deployed around the tribunal on Friday after suspension of its chief justice, even as hundreds of followers of the opposition right-wing PiS protested the ousting of Bogdan Swieczkowski.
{{/usCountry}}Riot police was deployed around the tribunal on Friday after suspension of its chief justice, even as hundreds of followers of the opposition right-wing PiS protested the ousting of Bogdan Swieczkowski.
{{/usCountry}}Dozens of police personnel were seen guarding the entrance to the court, according to AFP. Some of the gathered protesters chanted “Tusk traitor” as they criticised Poland's current government. One of the protesters accused Tusk of “trampling” the Polish citizens'constitutional rights, AFP reported.
Some of the protesters allegedly tried to force their way through the security barricades. The cops said three protesters had been arrested for trying to enter the tribunal complex.
Polish President returns, confronts Korwin-Piotrowska
Polish President Nawrocki called off his Senegal trip mid-flight. “At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” Nawrocki said in a post on X.
Nawrocki, after returning to Warsaw, held a meeting at the presidential palace with suspended court chief Swieczkowski and the court's first chief justice Zbigniew Kapinski, according to AFP.
The Polish President then entered the constitutional court building, his chief of staff Pawel Szefernaker said, adding that Nawrocki was also accompanied by Kapinski. A video of the President confronting the Donald Tusk-backed ‘head of court’ Anna Korwin-Piotrowska was shared by Russian state-backed media RT. In the video, he was reportedly heard saying, “You are not the judges of the Constitutional Court.”
‘Restoring rule of law our duty’: Polish govt's response
Polish PM Tusk justified the move, saying in a post on X that “restoring the rule of law” was his government's “duty.” “After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way,” Tusk added.
Justice minister Waldemar Zurek, who is also the attorney general, told reporters that he had also requested for the lifting of the legal immunity granted to Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski. “This court has become private property; we must restore its proper functioning,” AFP cited Zurek as saying.
Korwin-Piotrowska said the constitutional court was essential for a modern democratic state, adding that it acts as a “guarantor” of people's rights and freedoms. “In modern Europe, a democratic state cannot function without a constitutional court... that acts as a guarantor of citizens' rights and freedoms,” she said.
Constitutional court's X handle alleges 'coup d'etat'
The constitutional court's official handle on X, meanwhile, said there had been a “coup d'etat.” Meanwhile, the court's website, where the note announcing Swieczkowski's removal was posted, was not accessible on Friday evening.
However, the court's X account said Swieczkowski remained in office, adding that Korwin-Piotrowska could not become interim chief of the tribunal, given that she had not been sworn in by the president
Poland's long-running judiciary battle
A long-running political dispute over the constitutional tribunal has crippled the institution, news agency Reuters reported. The current pro-European administration and the right-wing ally President have both refused to recognise appointees from the other side.
The dispute began in 2015, when the nationalist PiS government sought to appoint judges on seats already filled by the previous government. This led to PiS nominees gaining a majority in the court, with critics saying the institution did not qualify as an impartial tribunal established by law, Reuters reported.
Therefore, when Tusk's coalition came to power in 2023, it pledged to reform the court. However, Nawrocki, an ally of PiS, has attempted to block these efforts since he became President in 2025.