Police have been deployed at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal after demonstrators gathered to protest the suspension of its head judge, Bogdan Swieczkowski, in the latest escalation of a long-running dispute over the court’s independence.
Officers entered the tribunal’s premises in Warsaw on Friday following incidents outside the building, including objects being thrown at police. Three people were detained after members of the crowd launched what police described as “dangerous projectiles”.
Swieczkowski’s suspension came after months of conflict over the functioning of the court. He had used his authority to prevent judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from taking up their duties, according to the justice minister, Waldemar Zurek.
Mr Zurek said he had asked for Swieczkowski and his deputy’s immunity to be lifted, alleging that they had failed to fulfil their responsibilities by blocking judges from carrying out their work.
Swieczkowski was appointed by the former nationalist Law and Justice, or PiS, government, which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023. Critics in Poland and the European Union have accused PiS of politicising the judiciary by appointing judges sympathetic to the party and its policies.
News of the suspension drew PiS supporters to the gates of the tribunal. Former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro condemned the move, describing it on X as “a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order”.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said restoring the rule of law was the government’s responsibility. “After years of lawlessness under PiS, this process is difficult, at times even painful, and requires decisive action. There is no other way,” he said.
President Karol Nawrocki, who is allied with PiS, said he was turning his plane around while travelling to a sporting event in Senegal. “At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland,” he said.
Since being elected in mid-2025, Mr Nawrocki has refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament. One of those judges, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, has now been placed in charge of the Constitutional Tribunal after the president rejected her appointment on the grounds of alleged flaws in the selection process.
Dispute over Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal
Poland’s pro-European government has promised to restore judicial independence, but two attempts to do so have been vetoed by presidents aligned with PiS, including Mr Nawrocki.
The dispute has left the Constitutional Tribunal at the centre of a wider political confrontation, with the suspension of its head judge bringing supporters of the opposition party on to the streets and prompting a police deployment at the court.
