Polish Police Enter Constitutional Tribunal After Head Judge Suspended

Police forces entered the grounds of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on Friday following protests against the suspension of the court’s presiding judge. Authorities said they moved inside the premises after incidents outside the building, during which demonstrators threw objects at officers. Three people were detained after police described some items as dangerous projectiles.

The suspension of Bogdan Swieczkowski resolves a standoff that has stalled the court’s work for six months. Swieczkowski had prevented judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from taking their seats. Waldemar Zurek, the minister of justice, told reporters that he requested the removal of immunity for Swieczkowski and his deputy. He cited their failure to allow judges to perform their duties as the reason for the legal action.

Anna Korwin-Piotrowska has now assumed leadership of the tribunal. She is one of three judges nominated by the parliament that President Karol Nawrocki has not sworn in since his election in mid-2025. Nawrocki, who is aligned with the opposition Law and Justice party, announced on Friday that he was turning his plane around while en route to a sporting event in Senegal. He stated that the president must be in Poland at such a time.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, leader of the Civic Coalition, described the restoration of the rule of law as the government’s duty. Writing on the social media platform X, Tusk said the process has been difficult and painful after years of what he called lawlessness under the previous administration. He added that decisive action was required and that there was no other path forward.

Swieczkowski was originally appointed by the Law and Justice government, which led the country from 2015 to 2023. Critics of that administration accused it of politicizing the judiciary by electing judges friendly to the party. When the current pro-European government took power, it promised to restore judicial independence, though two previous attempts to do so were vetoed by presidents aligned with Law and Justice.

Law and Justice, now the largest opposition force, criticized the suspension of its ally. Former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro posted on X that the move was a criminal attack on the constitutional order. The political dispute has left the top court unable to function normally while the new leadership takes over.

The suspension marks a formal change in command at the top of Poland’s judicial system. The next steps in the process will involve the newly appointed leadership managing the court’s docket and integrating the judges who were previously blocked from serving.