Tusk-Nawrocki battle escalates as chief judge is ousted from Poland’s top court

Key Points:

• Poland’s constitutional court descended into chaos as judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended the court’s president Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy, leading to accusations of a coup and tense protests outside the tribunal.
• The conflict is part of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s efforts to reverse the judicial overhaul by the former nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government, which had packed the court with its appointees, intensifying tensions with the EU over rule of law issues.
• Protests erupted with PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński participating and accusing Tusk of staging a coup, while police detained several protesters and maintained security around the court building.
• President Karol Nawrocki, a PiS ally, cut short a trip abroad to return to Poland amid the crisis, while Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek accused Święczkowski of turning the court into a “private fiefdom” and supported Korwin-Piotrowska’s actions as legally justified.
• The tribunal has been central to controversial rulings under PiS, including a near-total abortion ban and challenges to EU law supremacy, with recent efforts by Tusk’s government to install new judges facing strong resistance from the court’s nationalist leadership.