Polish police deployed to top court after head judge suspended
Polish police have been deployed outside the country's top court after demonstrators gathered to protest the suspension of its head judge, Bogdan Swieczkowski.
Police said on Friday they entered the premises of the Constitutional Tribunal after incidents outside the court, including objects being thrown at police. Protesters descended on the Warsaw court after it announced Swieczkowski's suspension, which is related to a long-running dispute that has effectively paralysed the court.
Political Background
Over the past six months, Swieczkowski used his power as head of the court to block judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from assuming their court duties. He was appointed to his position by Poland's former nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) government, which critics have accused of politicising the country's courts.
Government Response
Minister of Justice Waldemar Zurek told reporters on Friday that he had requested that Swieczkowski and his deputy's immunity be lifted for failing to fulfil their duties by preventing judges from performing their work. Restoring the rule of law is the government's duty, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
News of Swieczkowski's suspension brought crowds of PiS supporters to the gates of the Constitutional Tribunal. Police said they detained three people after some in the crowd launched "dangerous projectiles". PiS-allied Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced he was turning his plane around while on the way to a sporting event in Senegal, stating: "At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland".
Judicial Dispute
Poland's Constitutional Tribunal has long been a point of serious political contention, with critics accusing PiS of imposing political control over the court by electing judges friendly to the party. Since his election in mid-2025, Nawrocki has refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by the Polish parliament.
Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the judges Nawrocki refused to swear in, has now been placed in charge of the Constitutional Tribunal. Politicians from PiS have criticised Swieczkowski's suspension, with former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro calling it "a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order".
Related
