The return and the immunity requests
The return of Karol Nawrocki to Warsaw is the most significant development in this escalating Constitutional Tribunal dispute. Karol Nawrocki returned to Warsaw on Oct. 30 after cutting short a trip to Senegal to address the leadership conflict. "At a moment like this, the president must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning," Nawrocki wrote on X. I see this movement as a response to the tension between Tusk’s government and the opposition. Prosecutor General Waldemar Zurek submitted five requests to lift judicial immunity, including four regarding President Bogdan Swieczkowski and one regarding deputy president Bartlomiej Sochanski. These requests came with 50 volumes of case files, though they do not constitute criminal charges. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who was elected to the Constitutional Tribunal by Poland’s parliament, called a general assembly of judges for Nov. 3 to address the dispute.
The confrontation at the court
The confrontation at the court remains a mess because of the disputes over authority and the physical violence from protesters. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, whose appointment to the Constitutional Tribunal remains contested, issued orders to suspend Swieczkowski and Sochanski. The existing tribunal leadership disputes her authority and claims that those responsible for the suspension orders attempted a coup and took over their website unlawfully. I find the situation outside the court particularly chaotic because protesters breached a perimeter fence and threw objects at police officers, which resulted in the detention of three people. The confrontation worsened when a protester cut through a chain securing a gate to the Constitutional Tribunal, which allowed the disputed president Bogdan Swieczkowski to enter the grounds after he was told the gate would be opened. Swieczkowski told Polish Radio that the gate opened on his instructions, but police officers prevented him from entering the building. Former deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk accused the government of attempting a coup and alleged that legally appointed judges were being prevented from entering the court building. Donald Tusk wrote on X that restoring the rule of law is his duty and that after years of lawlessness, the process is difficult, sometimes painful, and requires decisive action.
