Protests outside Poland’s constitutional court: What’s the crisis about?
Summary
A dispute over appointments and leadership at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal has escalated, drawing hundreds of protesters and a police response in Warsaw. Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government says it is trying to restore judicial independence, while the opposition Law and Justice party and its ally President Karol Nawrocki have condemned the latest move.Key Facts
- The Constitutional Tribunal rules on whether laws comply with Poland’s constitution.
- Judges elected by the current parliamentary majority announced the suspension of tribunal president Bogdan Swieczkowski and deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski.
- Hundreds of people protested outside the tribunal in Warsaw on Friday night, and police arrested three people who tried to enter the complex.
- President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of the opposition Law and Justice party, cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Poland.
- The dispute traces back to 2015, when competing parliamentary majorities made appointments to judicial seats, including three seats that the tribunal had ruled were lawfully filled.
- The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2021 that a company’s rights were breached when an improperly appointed judge took part in its case.
- In December 2025, the EU’s highest court ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal did not meet the requirements of an independent court and that some of its rulings breached Poland’s obligations as an EU member.
- Tusk returned as prime minister in December 2023 and pledged to restore judicial independence; his government does not recognize the tribunal’s legitimacy in its current form.
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