Poland: crisis over the Constitutional Tribunal

Overnight into 31 October, police acting for Donald Tusk’s government cordoned off the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw after its president was suspended. President Karol Nawrocki called it a breach of constitutional order and demanded the cordon be lifted.

The conflict dates back to the start of the year: Nawrocki refused to swear in three of the six judges elected by parliament, and the tribunal’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski, did not let them take up their posts. The situation escalated when parliament elected Maciej Berek, the government’s chief legal adviser, as a judge; the president refused to swear him in as well.

Nawrocki called urgent consultations with representatives of the parliamentary groups to “stabilise” the situation. For the Polish community on the Costa Blanca this is the main news from home: the outcome will decide how the country’s key court works and affects Poland’s relations with the EU on the rule of law.