Suspension of Poland's top court leadership deepens Tusk-Nawrocki standoff
Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended the tribunal president for a month; the court called it a coup, and President Nawrocki turned back from a trip to Senegal.
The suspension of the leadership of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal has taken the feud between Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government and President Karol Nawrocki to a new stage.
What happened
On October 30, Constitutional Tribunal judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended the tribunal's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and vice-president, Bartłomiej Sochański, for one month and announced she was taking temporary charge. Korwin-Piotrowska is one of five judges elected by Tusk's parliamentary majority. Nawrocki refused to swear them in, so they took their oaths in parliament instead, and Święczkowski barred them from hearing cases (Politico, BBC).
Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek said he had requested lifting the immunity of Święczkowski and Sochański. The tribunal's official X account called the move a "coup d'état" and said Korwin-Piotrowska is not a judge of the tribunal (Euronews, BBC).
President cuts short his trip
President Nawrocki, flying to Senegal, wrote on X: "At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland." He then returned and entered the court building. Police were deployed at the tribunal as supporters of the Law and Justice (PiS) party protested. According to AP, police detained three people after some protesters breached the fence and threw objects at officers.
Tusk defended the move as necessary to restore the rule of law and depoliticise the judiciary. PiS and the tribunal's current leadership say it is unlawful.
Background
During its 2015–2023 rule, PiS filled the Constitutional Tribunal with its appointees, which became central to Poland's rule-of-law dispute with the European Union. Since winning the 2023 election, Tusk has tried to undo those changes but has repeatedly run into presidential vetoes.
Discussion on X
Mongolian users followed the story through MONTSAME's report and debated whether it is a power struggle or judicial reform.
Польшийн Үндсэн хуулийн шүүхийг тойрсон олон жилийн маргаан хурцдав #МОНЦАМЭ #ГадаадМэдээ montsame.mn/mn/read/414211
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Польшийн ерөнхийлөгч болон Засгийн газрын хооронд тэмцэл үүсчээ. Засгийн газраас Үндсэн хуулийн шүүхийн тэргүүн, дэд тэргүүнийг буулгасан үйлдлээ завхралыг залруулах гэж нэрлэсэн бол зарим намууд төрийн эргэлт гэж үзэж байна. Үзэл баримтлалын ялгаа юу, засгийн эрхийн тэмцэл үү?
Poland's president turned his plane around mid-flight as police moved into the nation's top court and political leaders accused the government of a "coup d'état." President Karol Nawrocki abruptly cut short his trip to Senegal after the head of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal
Sources: AP, BBC, Politico, Euronews, The Guardian, MONTSAME.
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