Polish president in physical confrontation with judges amid power struggle at constitutional court

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

President Karol Nawrocki has clashed physically and verbally with judges involved in an attempt to take control of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (TK). Afterwards, the president announced that he would hold a series of meetings with political leaders on Saturday afternoon to discuss the crisis.

However, it remains unclear to what extent the government, which is in conflict with the opposition-aligned Nawrocki and is backing the judges seeking to control the court, will engage in that process. Meanwhile, the court itself remains surrounded by riot police and anti-government protesters.

On Friday, Nawrocki had been flying to Senegal for a state visit when the crisis at the court broke out. He ordered his plane to turn around in midair and return to Warsaw.

At around 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, Maciej Berek, a close associate of Prime Minister Donald Tusk who was recently chosen as a new TK judge, shared videos showing Nawrocki entering the TK building amid a confrontation at its doors.

The president was heard asking judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who is leading the attempt to take control of the court, to move out of his way and could be seen pushing his way past her.

Afterwards, presidential aide Marcin Przydacz claimed that Korwin-Piotrowska and another judge, Krystian Markiewicz, had “breached the inviolability of the head of state”.

Berek denied this and said that it was the president who “barged into judge Korwin-Piotrowska with great force”.

Subsequently, a further film showed Nawrocki, after he had entered the building, in a verbal confrontation with Korwin-Piotrowska and others, in which he can be heard telling them, “you are not Constitutional Tribunal judges”.

The conflict stems from a years-long crisis around the TK. Since the current government – a coalition ranging from left to centre right led by Tusk – came to power in 2023, it has refused to recognise the court’s legitimacy.

That is because three of its judges were unlawfully appointed under the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, which was widely seen to have brought the court under political control. It also regards the court’s chief justice, Bogdan Świeczkowski, as illegitimate.

As a result, Tusk’s government has ignored the TK’s rulings and, until this year, refused to even nominate new judges to fill vacancies that arose on the court’s 15-person bench.

That changed in March, when the ruling coalition began filling the backlog of empty seats. So far this year, parliament has chosen eight new judges, meaning that its nominees in theory now have a majority on the court.

However, under Polish law, although new TK judges are chosen by parliament, they must swear an oath “before the president”. Nawrocki, who is aligned with PiS, has refused to swear in five of those eight new judges, including Korwin-Piotrowska, Markiewicz and Berek.

Those five judges arranged their own swearing-in ceremonies in parliament and submitted their oaths to the president’s office. However, Święczkowski, who before being appointed as a TK judge had served in the former PiS government, refused to accept those five judges on the court.

On Friday evening, the judges appointed by parliament this year entered the TK and Korwin-Piotrowska announced that she had suspended Święczkowski for failing to properly exercise his duties. She said that, as the judge with the longest experience, she had assumed the position of acting head of the tribunal.

Outside the court, riot police held back protesters, including opposition politicians, who called the events a “coup d’état”. Święczkowski himself was prevented by police from entering the grounds after some of his supporters had used a power tool to cut through the fence.

At around 5 a.m., Nawrocki was seen leaving the TK. “There has been a violation of the constitutional order of Poland and a forceful takeover of a constitutional body,” said the president in a statement read by the head of his cabinet, Paweł Szefernaker.

The president announced that he would hold urgent consultations with parliamentary groups in an attempt to “restore the legal order”. Those meetings are scheduled to take place on Saturday afternoon.

Leading figures from the right-wing and far-right opposition, with which Nawrocki is aligned, have indicated their willingness to engage in talks, as have some of Tusk’s junior coalition partners.

Szymon Hołownia, the founder of the centrist Poland 2050 (Polska 2050), confirmed on Saturday morning that his group would attend the talks. He also urged Tusk to sit down at the table with Nawrocki.

Hołownia said that his party had “watched last night’s events with concern” and that they “bring shame on Poland”. While he criticised Święczkowski and other PiS-nominated judges, he said that trying to fix the TK “by force” would only “exacerbate its downfall”.

On Saturday afternoon, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the centre-right Polish People’s Party (PSL) and a deputy prime minister, also revealed that he would personally attend the consultations with Nawrocki.

However, Tusk’s only comment so far has been a social media post saying that restoring the rule of law “requires decisive action”. His justice minister, Waldemar Żurek, announced on Friday evening that he was seeking to have Święczkowski’s immunity from prosecution lifted.

On Saturday, speaking to broadcaster TVN, Żurek expressed support for the actions taken by Korwin-Piotrowska. He called Nawrocki’s behaviour at the TK “shameful” and said he “hoped prosecutors will take action, because it is unacceptable for someone protected by presidential immunity to behave in such a way”.

At the time of writing, there had been no confirmation from Tusk’s other main coalition partner, The Left, regarding whether it would attend the talks with Nawrocki.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Jacek Marczewski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.