Streit um Justiz: Nach Chaos – Polens Verfassungsrichter wollen tagen

Am Tuesday, Polish Constitutional Court judges aim to convene their general assembly after chaotic scenes. The main agenda item is to adopt the court's statute for 2027. Scheduled to begin at 15:30, the meeting carries significant political implications. The Constitutional Court and its judges are at the center of a power struggle between the center-left government of Donald Tusk and the right-conservative President Karol Nawrocki.

The right-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which ruled the country from 2015 to 2023, had placed pro-government judges in the court. Since the government change in autumn 2023, Tusk's government has been attempting to fill vacant seats with new Constitutional Court judges. The court consists of 15 judges, eight of whom have been nominated by the parliament since Tusk took office.

President Nawrocki, who is close to the PiS, has sworn in three of the nominated judges, but refuses to do so for the remaining five. The situation escalated on Friday when the court's website announced that Court President Bogdan Swieczkowski and his vice-president had been replaced. Instead, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the nominated judges, was appointed to run the court.

While these five judges have sworn an oath before the parliamentary speaker, Court President Swieczkowski has not allowed them into the building. The European Court of Human Rights had already ruled in May that these judges should be allowed to work. Meanwhile, on Saturday night, supporters of PiS and the right wing protested against the sacking of the Constitutional Court president.

Video footage showed Nawrocki, a former amateur boxer, gaining access to the court using robust physical force and pushing Judge Korwin-Piotrowska aside. The General Assembly of the judges has significant competencies. It can nominate the Constitutional Court president and his vice, as well as appoint a commission to decide whether to suspend the immunity of a Constitutional Court judge.

All judges in Poland enjoy this immunity - it can only be lifted after it is revoked. Judge Swieczkowski and his vice have been charged by Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Jurek for exceeding their competencies by excluding the judges. However, it is uncertain whether the General Assembly of the Constitutional Court will convene and be able to act.

Some of the judges who owe their nomination to the PiS will likely stay away, as they may feel uncomfortable with the proceedings. The situation is expected to heat up again on the national holiday of November 11th, when right and right-extreme forces traditionally hold an "Independence March" through Warsaw. Politologist Antoni Dudek told the news agency PAP that this time, the march route might deviate from its usual course and head towards the Constitutional Court and the government headquarters. He expects potential riots, as previous incidents in the dispute over the court have been avoided.