Poland's President Calls Crisis Talks, Says Government Forcibly Seized the Constitutional Tribunal

Poland's long-running fight over who controls its Constitutional Tribunal turned into an open standoff between the president and the government on Saturday. President Karol Nawrocki said the country's constitutional order had been violated overnight, demanded that police deployed by the government leave the court's premises, and called urgent consultations with parliamentary parties, citing a threat to internal security.

Nawrocki's statement, posted on X early Saturday and read out to protesters outside the court by presidential minister Pawel Szefernaker, described the events as a forcible takeover of a constitutional body. Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government rejects that description and says it is cleaning up a court packed by the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government.

What happened overnight

The crisis came to a head on Friday, when Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced that the tribunal's president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, had been suspended and said she had taken control of the institution. Police then blocked access to the court building in Warsaw as crowds gathered outside. Officers said they had not entered the building itself, and three people were detained while trying to get into the complex.

Nawrocki, who was flying to Senegal, turned his plane around mid-flight and made his way through the crowd into the court overnight. He and his chief of staff, Zbigniew Bogucki, left before 5 a.m., while judges loyal to the old leadership stayed inside. The president said he had helped Bartlomiej Sochanski, whom he regards as the tribunal's lawful vice-president, get into the building, and that the head of the Supreme Court also refuses to recognise the new leadership.

Two courts in one building

The practical result is that two groups of judges now each claim to be the legitimate tribunal, with the president backing one and the government the other. Korwin-Piotrowska has called a general assembly of judges for November 3, which could set up another clash over who has the authority to convene it.

Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Zurek has asked for the immunity of both Swieczkowski and Sochanski to be lifted. He also criticised the president's overnight entry into the court and said he hoped prosecutors would look at it. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski defended the police deployment, arguing it was needed so the tribunal could resume its constitutional work. Tusk wrote that restoring the rule of law after years of PiS rule was a painful process that required decisive action.

The opposition sees it very differently. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski urged supporters to fight for Poland, and Solidarity union chief Piotr Duda warned the government that it would get a war if it wanted one. The tribunal's old leadership has called the move a coup.

Why the dispute runs so deep

The tribunal decides whether laws comply with the constitution, so whoever controls it can block or approve major legislation. Tusk's coalition has spent months trying to remove judges appointed during the PiS years, arguing their appointments were unlawful. Earlier this year, Nawrocki refused to swear in three of the six judges parliament had elected. Those judges took their oaths and began working anyway, without the president, and that is the root of the current split.

US Ambassador Tom Rose called the situation very serious, urged all sides to avoid violence and said Washington would not interfere. For investors and Poland's EU partners, the immediate question is whether Saturday's talks between the president and party leaders can calm things down. The alternative is a long stretch in which Poland's laws can be challenged before two rival courts.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.