Key facts
- Commissioner Michael McGrath said the Venice Commission has been clear that appointing new judges lies within the power of the Sejm.
- McGrath stopped short of endorsing the suspension of Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and deputy Bartłomiej Sochański.
- President Karol Nawrocki, elected with Law and Justice backing in 2025, has refused to swear in some Tribunal judges elected by the parliamentary majority.
- Tusk compared calls for reconciliation to a thief demanding to keep half the contents of a stolen handbag.
- Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska convened an assembly of Tribunal judges for Tuesday.
The European Commission said on November 1 that Poland's parliament must have the right to appoint new judges, lending support to Prime Minister Donald Tusk in his confrontation with President Karol Nawrocki over the country's Constitutional Tribunal.
Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law Michael McGrath said in a statement to POLITICO that the Tribunal needs to be able to function in accordance with the Polish constitution and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU. He added that the Venice Commission has been clear that appointing the new judges lies within the power of the Sejm, Poland's lower house of parliament. A Commission spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent that the appointment of eight new members of the Tribunal lies within the constitutional power of the Sejm, and that the European Court of Human Rights had issued interim measures obliging Polish authorities not to hinder judges appointed by the Sejm from taking up their duties.
McGrath stopped short of endorsing Friday's suspension of Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański, a move that triggered the latest dispute. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, taking charge of the Tribunal, suspended the two after they blocked judges elected by the Tusk-led parliamentary majority from working for months.
The dispute pits Tusk's government against Nawrocki over efforts to reverse judicial changes introduced by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government between 2015 and 2023, which drew condemnation from European courts over concerns about judicial independence. The EU opened a legal procedure against Warsaw in 2017 over the changes. Nawrocki, elected with PiS backing in 2025, has refused to swear in some Tribunal judges elected by the current parliamentary majority, while the court's PiS-linked leadership has prevented them from working.
Nawrocki denounced the suspension as an unlawful takeover and held talks with parliamentary leaders on Saturday, boycotted by Tusk's Civic Coalition and its government ally, the New Left. He had turned his plane around mid-flight en route to Senegal and returned to Warsaw, where he pushed his way into the Tribunal shortly after midnight on Saturday, confronting judges challenging its leadership. The most senior of the new appointees took charge of the Tribunal on October 30, followed by a stand-off between PiS politicians and supporters, parties further to their right, and the police.
Tusk vowed in a Saturday night address to the nation not to back down. "In some matters there can be no compromise," he said, comparing calls for reconciliation to a thief demanding to keep half the contents of a stolen handbag. He also said: "In a state governed by the rule of law, a politician cannot enter a court or tribunal and give orders or intimidate judges, even if he is the president." He pledged to ensure the Tribunal could operate independently and safely.
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński accused Tusk's government of turning Poland into a police state and called for continued protests. "From today, Poland is becoming a police state, and from there it's a straight path to authoritarianism, and then to totalitarianism," Kaczyński wrote on X. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on October 31 that the opposition was refusing to accept its loss of control over the Tribunal and that the government would continue to uphold the constitution.
Korwin-Piotrowska has convened an assembly of Tribunal judges for Tuesday, potentially setting up another confrontation over who controls the court.