Polish Constitutional Tribunal spent up to 100,000 PLN on 40th anniversary celebrations

Breakdown of anniversary expenditures

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal spent up to 100,000 PLN on celebratory events commemorating four decades of its judicial work. The events were organized under the direction of Bogdan Święczkowski during an ongoing institutional crisis and operational paralysis at the court. Financial records obtained by TVN24 journalist Patryk Michalski revealed that the single largest line item was a catering expense labeled as a banquet service, which totaled 26,909.40 PLN. When asked to provide specific details regarding what this service included, the tribunal's press office declined to provide itemized records. Financial disclosures from recent months also show additional related spending, including more than 16,700 PLN for gadgets featuring the court's logo and seven separate contracts for musical concerts valued at over 12,000 PLN in total.

River cruise and commemorative medals

The anniversary program combined formal academic panels with entertainment for attendees. A boat excursion along the Vistula River cost public funds more than 11,200 PLN. Tribunal spokesperson Weronika Ścibor confirmed the nature of the excursion in an official response to journalists.

It was sightseeing Warsaw in the form of a boat trip along the Vistula for several dozen speakers and conference guests from abroad and Poland.

In addition to the river cruise, the institution spent over 11,800 PLN to produce 100 custom brass medals, which were handed out to conference participants as jubilee mementos. The central gathering was an academic conference held in the first half of September under the theme of Natural Law Foundations of Constitutional Order. The court paid foreign panel participants an honorarium of 1,000 EUR (around 4,000 PLN) each for their attendance and speaking roles. The tribunal also covered the full travel and accommodation costs for these international attendees, who included Zlatko Knežević, a Venice Commission member and former president of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Boycott and criticism from retired judges

The celebratory expenditures drew sharp condemnation from former members of the bench, many of whom boycotted the gathering entirely. Multiple former tribunal presidents and retired judges refused invitations to attend the official events in Warsaw. Wojciech Hermeliński, a retired Constitutional Tribunal judge, publicly condemned the spending decisions given the ongoing functional deadlock at the court.

I see no possibility of participating in the celebration, because there is nothing to celebrate. Spending money on things like boat trips is exceptionally bad at a time when the Tribunal is practically not functioning.

Another retired judge, speaking anonymously to reporters, described the anniversary gathering as Święczkowski's ball on the Titanic. Former judges stated that allocating tens of thousands of zlotys to entertainment, gifts, and receptions was inappropriate while the institution remained paralyzed by internal conflict.

Institutional milestone and operational deadlock

The Constitutional Tribunal was formally established by law in 1982, though it began its actual judicial activity four years later in 1986. That timeline made 2026 the 40th anniversary of Polish judges reviewing whether enacted legislation conforms to the constitution. The celebrations were intended to mark four decades of constitutional adjudication in Poland. The spending records disclosed in early October showed that substantial public funds went to ceremonial spending during a period of stalled judicial output.