Midnight struggle at the Constitutional Tribunal
President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane around mid-flight on the way to Senegal to return to Warsaw for an overnight confrontation at the Constitutional Tribunal. At around 1am on October 31, Nawrocki physically pushed through a group of judges at the entrance to the building to enter the court. Supreme Court First President Zbigniew Kapinski accompanied him during the incident. Police at the entrance barred his way but did not arrest the sitting president. Social media footage shows Nawrocki moving through a crowd that included Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the judge claiming leadership of the court as the longest-serving judge. Presidential officials accused Korwin-Piotrowska and other judges of physically blocking the president to prevent his entry. The confrontation continued inside the building as Nawrocki refused to meet Korwin-Piotrowska and other judges he considers illegitimate. He left the building around 5am and issued a statement alleging that government-backed forces had "unlawfully seized a constitutional institution." He also demanded that police withdraw and called for urgent talks with parliamentary parties later on October 31. This chaos follows police deployment outside the court on the afternoon of October 30 after Korwin-Piotrowska raised security concerns for staff.
Legal disputes and judicial immunity
The struggle involves a conflict over the authority of the 15-member tribunal. Korwin-Piotrowska issued two decisions to suspend Tribunal President Bogdan Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski for one month. She cited misconduct including the exclusion of new parliamentary appointees from court business and the prevention of the judges’ assembly from preparing the 2027 budget. Both Swieczkowski and Sochanski deny the legality of these suspensions. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek submitted five requests to remove the judicial immunity of Swieczkowski and Sochanski on Friday. The current government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk since December 2023, seeks to use eight judges elected by parliament during 2026 to change the court balance. Nawrocki received oaths from three of these judges but not the other five. The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission stated this month that an alternative procedure may be legitimate if appropriate formal requirements are met when a president blocks the oath-taking process. Korwin-Piotrowska called a judges’ assembly for November 3 to approve next year’s budget.
