Political clash

Poland, Tusk: Attack on the Court is a violation of the rule of law by the far right

This was stated by the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, in an address to the nation following the clash with the President of the Republic, Karol Nawrocki, over the Constitutional Court.

31 October 2026aggiornato alle 20:55

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Polonia: sospeso presidente Corte Costituzionale, proteste e tensioni

3' min read

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Versione italiana

Key points

The crisis at the Constitutional Court
The origins of the crisis
Polish Minister of Justice: Nawrocki’s behaviour is unacceptable

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

“The attack on the court is yet another part of the process by which the PiS, under Presidents Duda and Narowcki, is dismantling the rule of law in Poland. A politician cannot enter a court to issue orders or intimidate judges, even if he is the president.”

According to the PAP news agency, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made this statement whilst addressing the nation following the clash with the President of the Republic, Karol Nawrocki, over the Constitutional Court. “A democratic state must be strong and capable of upholding justice; there can be no compromises on certain issues,” he emphasised.

Law and Justice (in Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość – PiS) is a far-right Polish political party.

President Nawrocki calls for emergency talks to resolve the institutional crisis

The Polish President, Karol Nawrocki, has called for urgent crisis talks this morning with party representatives in an attempt to resolve the crisis triggered by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s decisions regarding the Constitutional Court.

The crisis at the Constitutional Court

The institutional crisis intensified after Tusk’s government decided to suspend the organisation’s president and vice-president from their posts, Bogdan Swieczkowski and Bartlomiej Sochanski, who had been appointed by the nationalist and Eurosceptic PiS party, which was previously in government.

Following this decision, President Nawrocki – a member of the right-wing nationalist PiS party, which opposes Tusk – decided to change course in the middle of the night and return to Warsaw whilst en route to a state visit to Senegal. Yesterday evening, the police cordoned off the High Court building, which was the focus of anger from demonstrators linked to the PiS party who are crying ‘coup d’état’.

Nawrocki stated that the extraordinary talks would be necessary to defuse a ‘threat to internal security’. According to his chief of staff, Paweł Szefernaker, upon his return to the capital, Nawrocki met with Świeczkowski and the court’s first president, Zbigniew Kapiński, before heading to the court’s headquarters. Footage from local broadcasters showed Nawrocki making his way through the crowd to enter the building.

Polonia: sospeso presidente Corte Costituzionale, proteste e tensioni

The origins of the crisis

This institutional conflict has deep-rooted causes. Prime Minister Tusk’s government, which belongs to a political camp opposed to that of President Nawrocki, has been trying for weeks to remove the judges from the Court. The judges were, in fact, appointed by the previous PiS-led government (the President’s party), which remained in power from 2015 to 2023. The Court has often ruled in favour of Polish legislation over European Union law; for this reason, the EU itself has accused Poland’s highest court of being too close to the nationalist political establishment of the time.

Polish Minister of Justice: Nawrocki’s behaviour is unacceptable

In this context, the Polish Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Waldemar Zurek, has described President Nawrocki’s behaviour as unacceptable; he was filmed in a video shoving judges aside in order to force his way into the country’s Constitutional Court.

“I am very concerned about the President’s behaviour; we have seen a video posted online today and I hope the public prosecutor’s office will take action. It is unacceptable for someone protected by presidential immunity to act in this way, forcing their way into a building and assaulting judges,” Zurek told TVN24.

Minister Zurek has also called for the waiver of their immunity in order to bring criminal proceedings on charges of obstruction of justice. It is expected that Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the most senior judge, will take over as head of the Court.