Symbolic imagePoland's court crisis deepens as EU Commission backs parliament's judges
Police sealed off Poland's Constitutional Tribunal on Friday after a judge declared its president suspended. President Nawrocki alleges a forcible takeover, while Prime Minister Tusk invokes the rule of law.
On Friday, 30 October, judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, appointed by the current majority, announced that tribunal president Bogdan Swieczkowski and his deputy were suspended and that she was running the court. The tribunal said Swieczkowski remains in office. Riot police guarded the building as several hundred protesters gathered, and three to four people were detained. Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and pushed his way into the court overnight, scuffling with a judge, and spoke of a forcible takeover of a constitutional body. His consultations with parties on Saturday ended without result. In a televised speech, Tusk said the rule of law differs from the law of the jungle and that on certain matters there can be no compromise.
EU and former presidents take sides
A Commission spokesperson said on Saturday evening that appointing the eight new judges falls within the Sejm's competence, and urged Nawrocki to swear them in. Four former tribunal presidents called his conduct an unprecedented violation of the court's autonomy.
Disciplinary move and timeline
On Monday Korwin-Piotrowska announced disciplinary proceedings against Swieczkowski and his deputy, with the drawing of judges' panels added to Tuesday's agenda. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek told TVP Info that the first hearings could come within weeks.
Other opinions
TASS traces the crisis to Tusk appointing a former minister to the tribunal and calls Swieczkowski acting president, while Western outlets stress Nawrocki's refusal to swear in judges.