EU Commission backs Poland government over constitutional court crisis

On November 1, the European Commission affirmed Poland's parliament's authority to appoint judges to the country's highest court, aligning with the center-right government led by Donald Tusk. Tusk's administration is striving to restore Poland's legal system in accordance with EU standards, following the previous Law and Justice Party (PiS) government's move to place the judiciary under political control in 2017, which prompted the EU to commence a legal action against Warsaw in 2017.

The European Commission clarified that the appointment of eight new members of the Constitutional Tribunal falls within the constitutional authority of the Sejm (Poland's parliament). Additionally, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights had issued interim measures urging Polish authorities not to obstruct the judicial duties of judges appointed by the Sejm.

The recent crisis stems from President Karol Nawrocki, also a PiS member, declining to witness the newly appointed judges take their oaths, aiming to halt their ability to commence work. This dispute escalated on October 30 when the most senior new appointee took charge of the Constitutional Tribunal. In response, PiS politicians and their supporters, as well as right-wing parties, clashed with the police, with Jarosław Kaczynski, the PiS leader, accusing Tusk's government of transforming Poland into a police state and calling for continued protests.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski addressed the situation on October 31, stating that the democratically elected government would continue to uphold the constitution and that the populist opposition was refusing to accept its loss of control over the Tribunal.