Le Pen says Polish Constitutional Tribunal crisis resembles a forcible takeover

Police enter the tribunal grounds

On Friday evening, 30 October, police entered the grounds of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal. The Warsaw police (KSP) said officers were there to carry out statutory tasks, acting on information from Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska about possible threats to the life or health of the tribunal's judges and staff and a risk of public disorder. The officers arrived between 17:00 and 18:00. Around 18:00 a notice on the tribunal's website announced a break in the duties of its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and vice-president, Bartłomiej Sochański. As the judge with the longest service, Korwin-Piotrowska was named to direct the tribunal's work. Later, police reported incidents at the protest outside, including objects thrown at officers, and said three people who had jumped the fence onto the grounds were detained.

Nawrocki's response

RMF24 reports that President Karol Nawrocki cut short a flight to Senegal, returned to Poland and went to the tribunal's headquarters overnight from Friday to Saturday. Afterwards he convened urgent consultations with representatives of parliamentary forces, arguing that the constitutional order had been breached. Korwin-Piotrowska told PAP she could meet the president at the Presidential Palace, and on TVN24 she added that if he wanted to talk and the services judged it safe, he would be invited to the tribunal. Of the six judges the Sejm elected on 13 March 2026, only Magdalena Bentkowska and Dariusz Szostek were invited to take the oath at the Presidential Palace, while the others signed theirs at a ceremony in the Sejm.

Le Pen's criticism

In a post on X on Sunday, 1 November, Marine Le Pen described the events as serious and said the questioned suspension of the tribunal's president, together with the intervention of security services around the institution, appeared to resemble a forcible takeover of a constitutional body. She argued that the rule of law cannot be restored in a way that creates the impression that its own principles are being ignored. Le Pen also criticised the indifference of the European Union and the silence of the media, saying one cannot claim to defend democracy while staying silent when a member state's constitutional balance is seriously threatened. RMF24 notes that she is the National Rally candidate in next year's French presidential election.

Bardella and the European Commission

Jordan Bardella, also of the National Rally, published his own post on X, accusing Prime Minister Donald Tusk of hindering the tribunal's work and the European Commission of applying double standards on the rule of law. The Commission told RMF FM that it expects Polish authorities to ensure the tribunal can function in line with the Polish constitution and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It also reminded that appointing new tribunal judges is a constitutional competence of the Sejm.