Nawrocki accuses Tusk of illegal power grab as Constitutional Tribunal standoff deepens

Friday's suspension and a standoff at the court

On Friday, 30 October, judges on the Constitutional Tribunal announced that court president Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy were suspended for one month. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the most senior of the newly elected judges, made the announcement from inside, declared herself acting head and barred both men from the building while riot police encircled it. Święczkowski, appointed under the Law and Justice (PiS) government, rejected the suspension, called it a 'coup d'etat' and tried to break through the fence before police stopped him. Protesters have gathered outside the court every day since Friday.

President Karol Nawrocki, who was visiting Senegal, turned his plane around and returned to Warsaw. Die Welt reports that police let him into the building, where he pushed Korwin-Piotrowska aside and told her she was not a judge.

Tuesday's session and the security council clash

On Tuesday, 3 November, eight judges elected by the current ruling majority convened the court and declared they had enough members to resume its long-stalled work. Le Monde reports that the court adopted a 2027 budget that afternoon, though it considers that unlikely to end the crisis. ABC reports that only eight of the 15 judges attended and that they lowered the quorum needed for decisions to be valid.

That same day Nawrocki used a National Security Council meeting, originally called to discuss a permanent US military base, to accuse Tusk of an illegal attempt to take control of the tribunal. Tusk could not respond while the cameras were on, and the five-hour session came to be dominated by the court.

Positions of the two camps

Tusk said defending the tribunal and its judges is a duty of the executive, and that no member of the executive has the right to storm the tribunal, as Nawrocki had done. He also accused Moscow of exploiting Poland's turmoil and urged politicians not to become 'useful idiots'.

“The president has a chance, and I hope he takes it, to stop attacking lawfully elected tribunal judges and allow them to work.”

Nawrocki accused the government of seizing the tribunal illegally, exploiting his absence and the All Saints holiday, and said people presenting themselves as judges are not judges under the law. He said he 'will not let this pass' and will use all his prerogatives.

“I expect [the prime minister] to rein in his government's ambitions and put an end to the illegal actions of his representatives inside the Constitutional Tribunal.”

Nawrocki gave Tusk until Independence Day on 11 November to change course. Tusk said he and Nawrocki have agreed to meet face to face to address the crisis.

Background and the stakes

The tribunal has 15 judges: seven appointed under PiS from 2015 to 2023 and eight after Tusk's coalition took office in December 2023, according to Die Welt. Nawrocki refuses to swear in five judges elected by parliament, which would leave PiS-era judges in the minority. In December 2025 the EU's Court of Justice ruled that the tribunal is neither independent nor impartial because of how its judges were appointed. Almost 1,000 cases are pending, and PiS seeks to return to power in elections next year.

Appointed under PiS, 2015-20237

Appointed after December 20238

Appointed under PiS, 2015-2023

7 judges

Appointed after December 2023

8 judges

Data from the article text