Polish police deployed to highest court after suspension of top judge | Court News

The judge’s suspension is part of a long-running dispute over the politicization of the Constitutional Court under the former government.

Polish police were deployed outside the country’s highest court after demonstrators gathered to protest the suspension of the chief justice.

Police said on Friday they entered the premises of the Constitutional Court after incidents outside the court, including objects being thrown at police.

Protesters gathered outside the Warsaw court after it announced Friday that its president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, had been suspended.

His suspension is linked to a long-running dispute that has effectively paralyzed the court.

Over the past six months, Swieczkowski has used his power as head of the court to prevent judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from carrying out their judicial duties.

Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek told reporters on Friday that he had requested that the immunity of Swieczkowski and his deputy be lifted for failing in their duties by preventing judges from carrying out their work.

Swieczkowski was appointed to his post by Poland’s former nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government, which critics accused of politicizing the country’s courts.

Restoring the rule of law is the government’s duty, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X following the announcement of Swieczkowski’s suspension.

“After years of anarchy under PiS, this process is difficult, sometimes even painful, and requires decisive action. There is no other way,” said Tusk, head of the Civic Coalition party.

News of Swieczkowski’s suspension drew crowds of PiS supporters to the gates of the Constitutional Court. Police said they arrested three people after some members of the crowd threw “dangerous projectiles.”

Also on Friday, PiS-allied Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced he was turning his plane around on his way to a sporting event in Senegal, saying: “In a moment like this, the president must be in Poland.”

Since his election in mid-2025, Nawrocki has refused to swear in three of the six judges appointed by the Polish parliament.

A politicized judicial system

Poland’s Constitutional Court has long been a subject of serious political controversy, with critics in Poland and across the European Union accusing PiS, which ruled the country from 2015 to 2023, of imposing political control over the court by electing judges sympathetic to the party and its policies.

When the pro-European Polish government came to power, it promised to restore the independence of the judiciary. However, two attempts to do so were vetoed by two PiS-aligned presidents, including Nawrocki.

Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the judges Nawrocki refused to swear in due to alleged irregularities in his selection procedure, was appointed to head the Constitutional Court.

Politicians from PiS, currently Poland’s largest opposition force, criticized Swieczkowski’s suspension.

“This is a blatant and criminal attack on the constitutional order,” former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on Friday.