Police arrested three individuals after a group of protesters breached the fence of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal and threw various objects at officers. President Karol Nawrocki, who was traveling to Senegal, returned to Poland in response to the incident and posted on X that “at that moment the president must be in Poland.” The Constitutional Tribunal has long been a focal point of disagreement between the pro‑European government and the opposition party Law and Justice (PiS). Critics in Poland and the European Union accuse PiS of subjecting key judicial institutions to political control, a claim that has led to EU sanctions following reforms implemented while PiS governed from 2015 to 2023. At 18:00 on the Tribunal’s website, an announcement was made that the duties of its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, had been suspended. Święczkowski was appointed during PiS rule, and Donald Tusk, who came to power in 2023, has accused him of blocking judges elected by the parliamentary majority and preventing them from taking positions in the Tribunal, including five judges such as Maciej Berka. Tusk has said that his plan to restore judicial independence may not please everyone, but he believes that restoring the rule of law is a duty that requires decisive action. At a Campusu Poland event in August, he stated that his government has a plan to ensure the Tribunal is again filled with lawfully appointed judges, though his methods may
Article source: Rzeczpospolita | Image credit: Rzeczpospolita