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Poland Deploys Riot Police in Constitutional Court Standoff
Confirmed
In Short: Poland deployed riot police as a constitutional crisis erupted over the removal of the Constitutional Tribunal President.
The constitutional crisis in Poland was triggered by the removal of Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski while President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of the previous Eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party government, was flying to Senegal.
Protesters, joined by Polish MPs, gathered outside the Constitutional Tribunal's headquarters on Aleja Szucha, with riot police setting up barricades to prevent demonstrators from entering the court building.
The First President of the Supreme Court, a separate legal body, did not recognize the actions taken by 'individuals usurping power' as legal, calling for the restoration of legal order and for security forces to leave the Tribunal.
Reacting to the events, Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek demanded that the court strip Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański of their immunity from prosecution.
The PiS-backed conservative president, Karol Nawrocki, turned his plane around en route to a state visit in Senegal to return to Warsaw and intervene at the court on Friday night.
The court frequently ruled in favor of Polish legislation over EU law, leading to accusations from the European Union that the court was too close to the nationalist political power of the time.
The PiS-led government took office in 2015 and moved swiftly to appoint judges to the court to gain a majority there because the court has the power to decide on the legality of legislation.
The European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union subsequently ruled that the PiS majority had elected three of the judges improperly because they were duplicating positions that had been validly filled by the previous parliament.
The court’s official leadership immediately denounced the move as an illegal 'coup d'état,' insisting Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański remain in their roles.
What's confirmed
- The constitutional crisis was triggered by the removal of Tribunal President Bogdan Swieczkowski while President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of Poland’s previous Eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party government, was flying to Senegal.
- "All persons participating in these actions are committing the crime of a coup d'etat," the Constitutional Tribunal said in a social media post.
- They ruled that the top court was no longer an "independent and impartial tribunal".
What's still developing
- "In light of the events in the country, I have concluded that it is no longer possible for me to continue serving as the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland. As of today, I have submitted my resignation and a request for recall."
- And Paweł Soloch, the country's ambassador to Romania, said: "In connection with the fact of an attempt to unlawfully take over the Constitutional Tribunal, I see no possibility of continuing to serve as the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Romania."
- A standoff has erupted between Donald Tusk's pro-EU government and allies of its Euroskeptic predecessor Geopolitical analyst Kate Jones weighs in on chaos in Poland as Donald Tusk accused of staging coup By signing up you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy and Community Rules.
- President Nawrocki has cut short his international visit and is currently racing back to Poland amid the standoff between the pro-EU Government of Mr Tusk and those connected to its PiS predecessors.
- The clashes followed a controversial decision by a group of government-appointed judges to suspend the court’s contested president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, amid disagreements over the bench’s legitimacy.
- The move prompted a furious reaction from the rightwing opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, with its leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, condemning what he claimed was an “assault” on the court.
- "Images of armed police and legal interpretations according to which the minister of justice can remove the president of the Constitutional Court by decree will have a powerful, anti-rule of law backlash for years to come," he added.