Poland's Court Standoff Deepens: President Nawrocki Pushes Into Tribunal, Calls It a Seizure 'by Force'

The fight over Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal did not cool off overnight. Hours after the court’s chief was declared suspended on Friday, Oct. 30, President Karol Nawrocki forced his way into the tribunal building in Warsaw past a police cordon, and by Saturday morning he was accusing Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government of seizing a state institution “by force.”

Tusk’s government says it is restoring the rule of law. To be clear about what is and isn’t happening: no outlet has reported a military takeover or an attempt to topple Poland’s government. “Coup” is the accusation each camp’s critics are using in a bitter legal and political dispute over who legitimately runs the country’s top constitutional court.

What is happening in Poland right now

Here is how the night unfolded, according to The Guardian, the BBC and Polish daily Rzeczpospolita:

• Riot police and protesters faced off. Hundreds of protesters, including opposition lawmakers, gathered outside the tribunal to back the suspended judges, The Guardian reported. Police said three people were detained after climbing over the court’s fence, and that objects had been thrown at officers, Politico Europe reported.
• Nawrocki went in. Shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday local time, the president appeared outside the court and made his way through the police cordon. One video shows him tussling with security and other judges to get into the building, The Guardian reported. He was still inside as of 4 a.m.
• His message. In a clip posted online, Nawrocki said the government-backed appointees “were not judges of the constitutional court,” per The Guardian. In a statement read on his behalf outside the court around 5 a.m., he condemned “a violation of Poland’s constitutional order,” said “a constitutional body was seized by force,” and called for security forces to leave.
• Urgent consultations. Rzeczpospolita reported that Nawrocki is calling urgent consultations with parliamentary parties, and that he consulted Supreme Court First President Zbigniew Kapiński, who, according to the president’s statement, also does not recognize the actions as legal (translated).

The accounts of the overnight entry differ. Judge Maciej Berek, one of the judges aligned with the new court leadership, wrote that judges were waiting for the president at a side entrance and that Nawrocki did not stop to greet Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, Rzeczpospolita reported (translated).

Who is in charge of the tribunal?

That is the core of the dispute. Korwin-Piotrowska, one of five parliament-elected judges Nawrocki has refused to swear in, ordered court president Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, suspended for a month and said she was taking charge, citing her seniority, according to Politico Europe and The Guardian. Święczkowski, a former minister under the Law and Justice (PiS) government, rejects her authority, and his deputy was turned away at the gates.

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek has asked for both men to be stripped of immunity so they can face prosecution for allegedly blocking newly elected judges from working, the BBC reported. Rzeczpospolita said a General Assembly of the tribunal’s judges has been scheduled for Nov. 3.

What Donald Tusk and his government say

Tusk has not backed down. “Restoring the rule of law is our duty,” he wrote, adding that after years of PiS “lawlessness,” the process “requires decisive action. There is no other way,” the BBC and The Guardian reported.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, speaking on the margins of a G20 meeting in Atlanta, said the tribunal “was politicised under the previous government” and that the goal is “allowing the majority of duly elected judges to make the tribunal function again,” The Guardian reported.

Criticism from several directions

PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński joined the protest and accused Tusk of a “coup” and of turning Poland into a “police state,” Politico Europe reported. Rzeczpospolita reported that Poland’s ambassador to Romania, Paweł Soloch, resigned in protest.

Criticism also came from a PiS critic. Law professor Marcin Matczak, who has called Święczkowski the court’s worst president, said the suspension had no legal basis and warned that “images of armed police” would cause an “anti-rule of law backlash for years to come,” the BBC reported.

Abroad, The Guardian reported that far-right figures including Britain’s Nigel Farage and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, along with former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, condemned the move. U.S. Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose wrote on X that “both sides offer sharply different accounts,” and warned that “the last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse.”

Why it matters

The tribunal has been contested since 2015, when PiS moved to install a majority of its appointees. European courts later ruled it was no longer an “independent and impartial tribunal,” and Tusk’s government has refused to publish its rulings, the BBC reported. Presidential vetoes, first by Andrzej Duda and now Nawrocki, have blocked Tusk’s attempts at reform. With parliamentary elections due next year, The Guardian said the clash is likely to polarize the country further.

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Earlier coverage: Poland 'Coup' Claims Explained: Top Court Chief Suspended, Police at Tribunal, President Flies Home (Oct 30)