Leadership clash at Poland’s top court deepens rule-of-law crisis

Poland’s constitutional crisis intensified after the longest-serving judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, suspended court president Bogdan Święczkowski and took over its leadership. President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of the former Law and Justice government, cut short a trip to Senegal, visited the tribunal and accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government of a “forcible takeover.”

The government says Święczkowski unlawfully blocked judges from hearing cases and that Korwin-Piotrowska acted within court rules. Święczkowski disputes her authority and called the move illegal. These are opposing legal and political claims; neither Reuters nor Associated Press reporting established a final judicial resolution. Hundreds protested outside the building on Saturday, and police detained three people after objects were allegedly thrown and some demonstrators tried to enter.

The confrontation is rooted in a decade-long dispute over changes made under the previous Law and Justice administration, which EU institutions said compromised judicial independence. Tusk’s coalition has pledged to restore the rule of law, but Nawrocki can veto legislation and rejects several government remedies. The next consequential step is whether the court’s judges, parliament or another competent authority determines who lawfully controls the tribunal, rather than either side’s public declaration alone.