PM Tusk defends chief justice’s suspension, president rushes back as court alleges ‘coup’
The suspension was announced by constitutional tribunal judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska.
Justice minister and attorney general Waldemar Zurek said he had sought the lifting of the legal immunity enjoyed by Swieczkowski and his deputy, Bartlomiej Sochanski.
The government has been attempting to remove judges appointed during the previous PiS administration, which governed the country from 2015 to 2023. Tusk, who came to power after the 2023 election, had promised to resolve the long-running dispute with Brussels and restore the rule of law. Poland President Karol Nawrocki also cut short an official visit to Africa and decided to return to Warsaw amid the escalating dispute. The move comes amid a prolonged dispute over the composition and functioning of Poland’s top court. The confrontation is part of a wider battle between Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist government and the nationalist right over judicial appointments and the independence of the courts. During PiS’s tenure, the European Union repeatedly raised concerns about the constitutional tribunal’s proximity to the government. The court had also delivered several rulings favouring Polish legislation over European Union law. However, President Nawrocki has blocked his government’s nominations to the Constitutional Tribunal, adding to the institutional standoff.
Poland witnessed fresh tensions between its government and the nationalist right on Friday after riot police were deployed around the country’s constitutional tribunal following the suspension of its chief justice, Bogdan Swieczkowski.