Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki are locked in a confrontation over Poland's Constitutional Tribunal as rival judges convene a disputed assembly in Warsaw on Tuesday.
Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended the tribunal's president Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański on Friday. She proclaimed herself president of the court. She has called a General Assembly for Tuesday to discuss the court's 2027 budget. Święczkowski maintains he remains in office. He called the Sejm-elected judges "usurpers" until they take an oath "before the President of the Republic."
On Saturday, Nawrocki cut short a state visit to Senegal. He forced his way into the tribunal building to demand the return of the suspended judges. Video footage showed him pushing past judges, including Korwin-Piotrowska. Riot police clashed with protesters outside the building.
On Monday, Tusk accused Nawrocki of "opting for a forceful confrontation." He called on the president to recognize the judges "lawfully elected by the Sejm" in March 2026. Nawrocki's supporters accuse Tusk of backing a coup.
Korwin-Piotrowska entered the tribunal through the Prime Minister's Chancellery side. Minister Jan Grabiec gave permission for this, she said. Four former presidents of the tribunal supported her actions in an open letter. Political scientist Wojciech Przybylski said the court has never seen such constitutional paralysis.
The Prosecutor General has filed five motions to lift the immunities of Święczkowski and Sochański. The dispute has split the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Six council members resigned on Monday. They included Hanna Machińska and Mirosław Wyrzykowski. They disagreed with the board's position on the tribunal.
The crisis dates to 2015. The Law and Justice party began overhauling the judiciary then. The European Commission, the Venice Commission, the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the EU have found the tribunal lacks independence. Święczkowski said the court has operated in an incomplete composition for nearly three years.
