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Demonstrators gathered outside Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw following the suspension of the court’s president and deputy. The protests target Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s center-left government, which critics accuse of undermining the constitution and the judiciary.
Suspension and Police Response
The protests began on Friday evening after the Constitutional Tribunal published a statement on its website announcing that President Bogdan Swieczkowski and his deputy were suspended for one month. During this period, fellow judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska will lead the court. Warsaw police reported that officers were deployed after a judge alerted them to potential threats concerning the safety of judges and staff.
Swieczkowski was appointed during the tenure of the right-wing conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), which held power from 2015 to 2023. Prime Minister Donald Tusk supported the suspension, stating on X that restoring the rule of law is a necessary and decisive duty following years of what he termed PiS-led lawlessness. When Tusk’s coalition assumed power following the 2023 parliamentary election, the administration pledged to overturn contentious judicial reforms implemented by the previous government.
Demonstrations and Political Consultations
Dozens of riot police were deployed to the court building as PiS supporters protested the removal of Swieczkowski throughout the evening. The court’s official X account characterized the suspension as a coup d’etat, while demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Tusk traitor” to condemn the government’s actions.
As the dispute escalated, President Karol Nawrocki initiated consultations with political representatives on Saturday. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who leads the Christian-conservative Polish People’s Party within Tusk’s governing coalition, was the first official to arrive at the Presidential Palace.
Roots of the Constitutional Court Dispute
The confrontation stems from an ongoing power struggle between Poland’s main political factions regarding control of the Constitutional Court. During its time in office, the nationalist-conservative PiS party appointed judges perceived as politically aligned with the administration. The European Court of Justice later determined that the tribunal could not function as an independent and impartial body due to irregularities in the appointment of certain judges and its former president.
In recent months, President Nawrocki declined to swear in five parliamentary-nominated judges. Although the judges took their oaths before parliament instead, Constitutional Court President Bogdan Swieczkowski barred them from entering the court building.
