Riot police deployed outside Poland’s Constitutional Court in Warsaw amid an escalating confrontation between Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist government and nationalist right-wing opponents over control of the judiciary.
A political tug-of-war in Poland escalated sharply as riot police guarded the entrance to the nation’s Constitutional Court. The standoff erupted after the government moved against the court’s leadership, setting off immediate protests from the opposition and competing claims of unlawful overreach from the judiciary itself.
Justice Minister Seeks Immunity Waiver for Court President Bogdan Święczkowski
The confrontation ignited when Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek announced he had requested the lifting of legal immunity for court President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański. The government intends to bring criminal charges against the two senior judicial figures.
Justice Minister Żurek argued that Święczkowski and his deputy should face prosecution for refusing to allow newly appointed judges to adjudicate. Prime Minister Donald Tusk defended the decisive measures in a post on social media.
President Karol Nawrocki Aborts Africa Trip to Intervene in Warsaw
President Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, abruptly altered his schedule as the crisis unfolded. According to his chief of staff, Nawrocki cancelled a trip to Senegal mid-flight—where he had been traveling to attend the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar—and ordered his flight back to Warsaw to handle the confrontation.
🚨🇵🇱 THE POLAND SITUATION. A BREAKDOWN: How Poland ended up in a constitutional crisis with police at its highest court.1. What started this?Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to reverse the judicial changes introduced under the previous PiS government, which he says… https://t.co/8rP5f5lVuq pic.twitter.com/qyeb2Q8t2G
Upon returning, Nawrocki entered the court building while riot police formed a perimeter to prevent demonstrators from pushing past the doors. Outside the premises, PiS supporters chanted Tusk traitor
and protested the ousting of the judiciary’s leadership. The court’s official social media account issued a stark warning regarding the government’s actions.
European Court Rulings and a Decade of Judicial Conflict
The current turmoil stems from a decade of institutional friction that began after the PiS-led government took office in 2015 and swiftly appointed judges to secure a majority on the court. Leading European institutions—including the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union—subsequently ruled that the PiS majority had improperly elected three judges by duplicating validly filled positions.
Sharp Domestic and International Criticism Over Police Deployment
The government’s hardline approach has drawn fierce criticism from legal experts and international figures alike. Lawyer Marcin Matczak, a critic of PiS-era judicial reforms, argued that the suspension lacked any legal foundation.
Prof Matczak wrote on social media that images of armed police and executive decrees removing the court’s president would create a powerful anti-rule of law backlash for years to come. British politician Nigel Farage also weighed in on the standoff, stating that the situation in Poland was very serious and characterizing the arrests and court raid as an effort to defend the undemocratic EU
.
