Poland’s Tusk vows rule-of-law return after court protest

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged on Wednesday to restore the rule of law after right-wing protesters rallied outside Poland's Constitutional Tribunal and tried to block judges from entering.

Tusk said in a video statement that Poland had functioned for too long without a properly elected Constitutional Tribunal. He said state authorities, police, services and prosecutors would act to restore legal and constitutional order.

The protesters included lawmakers from the former ruling Law and Justice party, known as PiS, and members of the conservative Gazeta Polska Clubs association. Some demonstrators put up metal barriers outside the court before police dismantled them. Local media reported a brief scuffle and said officers forcibly removed several protesters.

The dispute is part of a years-long rule-of-law crisis over the tribunal. Tusk's government does not recognise the court's rulings, arguing that it has remained loyal to PiS. In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights condemned PiS-era appointments to the tribunal and ruled the bench “unlawful”.

Tusk's government has sought to appoint new judges since returning to power after the 2023 election, but conservative-nationalist President Karol Nawrocki has not confirmed its nominations.

Judge Maciej Berek, elected to the tribunal in early September, took an oath in parliament on Wednesday in the presence of government officials. Nawrocki was not present and has not invited Berek to formally take the oath of office.

Nawrocki said that if Berek had failed to complete that formality, he was “most definitely not” a Constitutional Tribunal judge. Bogdan Swieczkowski, the PiS-linked president of the tribunal, told protesters that Berek would not be allowed to sit on cases before “receiving a response from the president”.

Tusk said newly elected judges would be protected by the state and would soon be able to begin regular work at the Constitutional Tribunal.