Constitutional Tribunal head demands police explain 14 July intervention amid judges' mandate dispute

Police enter Constitutional Tribunal

On 14 July 2026, officers from the Polish police entered the building of the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw, accompanied by a prosecutor from the National Prosecutor's Office. The intervention followed a call from two individuals elected by the Sejm in March as judges of the Tribunal, Krystian Markiewicz and Marcin Dziurda, who had been denied entry to the General Assembly of judges. The assembly was scheduled to discuss the Tribunal's budget for the following year. The police arrived after Markiewicz and Dziurda argued that, as judges elected by parliament, they had an obligation to attend the sitting.

Dispute over judicial appointments

The incident is rooted in a months-long conflict over the filling of judicial seats. In March, the Sejm elected six new judges: Magdalena Bentkowska, Dariusz Szostek, Maciej Taborowski, Marcin Dziurda, Krystian Markiewicz, and Anna Korwin-Piotrowska. However, President Karol Nawrocki invited only Bentkowska and Szostek to take the oath of office. The remaining four have not been sworn in. On 14 July, Taborowski and Korwin-Piotrowska were admitted to the assembly as guests, while Markiewicz and Dziurda were not allowed to participate. It was the latter two who summoned the police. The Tribunal has a pending case concerning a competence dispute between the president and the Sejm over the appointment of its judges.

Assembly collapses

The planned General Assembly did not take place. According to a Tribunal statement, the meeting lost its quorum after two judges, Bentkowska and Szostek, left the room. The Tribunal's spokesperson, Weronika Ścibor, said the institution would not yield to pressure from the executive branch. In an official communiqué, the Tribunal spoke of an "attempt to intimidate an independent judicial body and independent judges of the Constitutional Tribunal."

Święczkowski demands answers

On 20 July, Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski sent an official letter to Chief of Police Marek Boroń. He requested the legal and factual basis for the intervention, the content of the notification that triggered it, the identity of the person who made the report, and copies of all service notes, protocols, and other documents drawn up by the officers. Święczkowski argued that the police action "undoubtedly had the character of external interference in the Tribunal" and that providing the information was "constitutionally necessary" because the entry of police forces into the building could have violated constitutional principles. He stressed that his statutory duty is to ensure safe working conditions and order in the Tribunal's premises.

The police, as an element of the executive power, have no competence to decide who may take part in the sittings of the General Assembly of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal.

He also questioned the presence of the prosecutor, stating that in his view "there are no legal provisions that would allow a prosecutor to participate in a police intervention."

Broader constitutional clash

Święczkowski described the intervention as "another manifestation of a constitutional coup d'état" and announced he would also write to Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The letter to the police chief underscored that the Tribunal is an independent body and its judges are subject only to the constitution.

The entry of police forces into the building of the Tribunal and thus indirect interference in the course of the General Assembly sitting could have constituted, among other things, a violation of the cited constitutional principles.

The police have not yet publicly responded to the request for explanations. The Tribunal's spokesperson reiterated that the institution would not succumb to any pressure from the executive authorities.