Nawrocki pushes past judges at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal doors
Videos show the president entering the court after a night of standoffs, while rival camps dispute who used force and the coalition splits over his talks.
By
Juliette Carrel
In brief
- Poland’s president returned from a flight to Senegal after judges moved to take over the Constitutional Tribunal.
- Videos show him pushing past judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska at the court’s doors.
- He announced Saturday consultations with parliamentary groups; The Left said it would not attend.
- The dispute rests on five judges he refused to swear in.
President Karol Nawrocki clashed physically and verbally with judges at the doors of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (TK) in the early hours of Saturday, according to Notes from Poland. The judges involved are trying to take control of the court.
A night at the court’s doors
The crisis broke out on Friday while Nawrocki was flying to Senegal for a state visit. He ordered the plane to turn around in midair and return to Warsaw. Riot police surrounded the court and held back protesters, among them opposition politicians who described the events as a “coup d’état”.
- The president’s plane turns back to Warsaw. In the evening, judges appointed by parliament this year enter the tribunal, and Korwin-Piotrowska announces she has suspended chief justice Bogdan Świeczkowski for failing to exercise his duties properly.
- Police prevent Świeczkowski from entering the grounds, after some of his supporters used a power tool to cut through the fence.
- Maciej Berek shares videos of Nawrocki entering the building.
- Nawrocki is seen leaving the court.
In the first footage, the president asks Korwin-Piotrowska to move out of his way and is seen pushing past her. Berek, a close associate of Prime Minister Donald Tusk who was recently chosen as a TK judge, said Nawrocki “barged into judge Korwin-Piotrowska with great force”. Presidential aide Marcin Przydacz made the opposite claim, saying she and fellow judge Krystian Markiewicz had “breached the inviolability of the head of state”. Another film shows Nawrocki inside the building telling the judges: “you are not Constitutional Tribunal judges”.
When he left, a statement read by Paweł Szefernaker, head of his cabinet, said: “There has been a violation of the constitutional order of Poland and a forceful takeover of a constitutional body.” The president announced urgent consultations with parliamentary groups on Saturday afternoon, with the aim of restoring the legal order.
Why the court is contested
The clash comes from a crisis that has lasted for years. Since Tusk’s coalition, which ranges from the left to the centre right, took office in 2023, it has refused to recognise the tribunal’s legitimacy. Three of its judges were unlawfully appointed under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, which was widely seen as having brought the court under political control. The government also regards Świeczkowski as illegitimate. It has ignored the court’s rulings and, until this year, declined to nominate judges for vacancies on the 15-person bench.
That changed in March, and parliament has chosen eight new judges so far this year, which in theory gives its nominees a majority. But Polish law requires new judges to take their oath before the president. Nawrocki, who is aligned with PiS, refused to swear in five of the eight, including Korwin-Piotrowska, Markiewicz and Berek. The five held their own ceremonies in parliament and sent their oaths to the president’s office. Świeczkowski, who served in the former PiS government before joining the court, refused to accept them as members.
How the government camp is responding
Tusk’s only comment so far was a social media post saying that restoring the rule of law “requires decisive action”. Justice minister Waldemar Żurek announced on Friday evening that he was seeking to lift Świeczkowski’s immunity from prosecution. Speaking to TVN, he backed Korwin-Piotrowska and called the president’s behaviour “shameful”, adding that he hoped prosecutors would act because it was unacceptable for someone with presidential immunity to behave that way.
The right-wing and far-right opposition have signalled willingness to join the talks. Within the coalition, the reactions differ.
| Group | Position on Nawrocki’s talks |
|---|---|
| Poland 2050 (Szymon Hołownia) | Will attend; urged Tusk to sit down with Nawrocki |
| Polish People’s Party (Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz) | Leader will attend personally |
| The Left (Anna-Maria Żukowska) | Will not attend |
Hołownia said his party had watched the night’s events with concern and that they “bring shame on Poland”. He criticised Świeczkowski and the other PiS-nominated judges, but argued that fixing the tribunal by force would only “exacerbate its downfall”.
“The TK is in the hands of independent judges. Politicians should not tell them what to do.”
Anna-Maria Żukowska, head of The Left’s parliamentary caucus
Żukowska added that “one cannot accept an invitation from someone who is himself responsible for the current situation regarding the Constitutional Tribunal”. Meanwhile, the court remained surrounded by riot police and anti-government protesters.
Photo: Gildo Cancelli / Pexels
