Riot police have been deployed at Poland’s Constitutional Court in Warsaw after a dispute between Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government and the court’s senior judges escalated over the administration’s attempt to bring criminal charges against its president and vice-president.
The police deployment came after Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek requested the removal of immunity from prosecution for Constitutional Court President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański, seeking to charge them with criminal offences for preventing newly elected judges from taking part in court proceedings.
Riot police arrived to prevent demonstrators from entering the court building as supporters of the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party gathered outside to protest against the government’s move.
President Karol Nawrocki, who has the backing of PiS, also entered the Constitutional Court, according to his chief of staff. Nawrocki cancelled a trip to Senegal while mid-air to attend the confrontation in Warsaw. He had been travelling to Dakar for the Summer Youth Olympic Games.
Tusk defended his government’s actions on Friday, saying that restoring the rule of law remained its responsibility.
“Restoring the rule of law is our duty. After years of Law and Justice’s lawlessness, this is a difficult, sometimes painful process that requires decisive action. There is no other way,” he wrote on social media.
The Constitutional Court, however, maintained that Święczkowski and Sochański remained its legally appointed senior judges. In a social media statement, it accused those involved in the government’s actions of committing a coup.
“All persons participating in these actions are committing the crime of a coup d’etat,” the court said.
The dispute dates back to 2015, when the PiS-led government appointed judges to secure a majority in the Constitutional Court, which has the authority to rule on the legality of legislation.
The European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union later ruled that the PiS majority had improperly appointed three judges because their positions had already been filled by the previous parliament.
The European courts also ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Court no longer qualified as an independent and impartial tribunal.
Tusk’s government has relied on those rulings to stop publishing the court’s decisions. However, efforts to reverse the judicial changes have faced resistance from Nawrocki and his PiS-backed predecessor, Andrzej Duda, who used presidential vetoes to block the government’s attempts.
Nawrocki has also refused to swear in five judges elected by parliament since March, citing alleged irregularities in their selection. One of them, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, has since taken temporary charge of the court.
Earlier this month, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission urged Nawrocki to swear in the five judges so they could take their seats on the bench.
Żurek said the court’s president and vice-president should face criminal charges for preventing the newly elected judges from adjudicating cases.
The dispute has also drawn criticism from within Tusk’s camp, with some supporters accusing him of failing to take sufficient action to reverse the PiS-era judicial changes. With parliamentary elections scheduled for next year, some observers have viewed the move as an attempt to strengthen his support among voters.
However, the government’s actions have also faced criticism over their legal basis. In September, Tusk nominated Maciej Berek, a lawyer who served as a minister in his cabinet, as a candidate for a Constitutional Court judgeship.
Lawyer Marcin Matczak, a critic of the PiS-era judicial reforms who has described Święczkowski as the court’s worst president, questioned the legal basis for his suspension.
“Today’s action at the Constitutional Court, in my opinion, buries this body and the issue of the rule of law for two decades,” Matczak wrote on social media.
He also warned that images of armed police at the court and legal interpretations allowing the justice minister to remove its president through a decree could have long-term consequences for the rule of law.
