Conflict over the highest court in Poland: The Constitutional Court goes back to work

The silent demonstrators who called for the restoration of the democratic constitutional state in Poland on Tuesday evening carried burning grave candles in their hands. Across Poland, tens of thousands of people expressed their sadness over the ongoing violation of the law during the government of the right-wing nationalist PiS from 2015 to 2023. At the same time, the rally should be a sign of hope that the center-left coalition under Prime Minister Donald Tusk will finally succeed in turning the Constitutional Court into an independent court again.

Days earlier, a right-wing nationalist mob had tried to storm the Constitutional Court in the government district of Warsaw. They angrily chanted “coup d'état” without understanding that, with the deposed leaders, they were defending two suspected criminals who are due to stand trial in court.

The two demonstrations show once again how divided Poland's society is. Those interested in politics hardly attended on Tuesday: first the State Security Council met, to whose public meeting President Karol Nawrocki had invited. Afterwards, the general assembly of judges at the Constitutional Court met - also open to the public. Then Attorney General Waldemar Żurek presented the complaints against the two chairmen of the Constitutional Court who had been suspended from office - also publicly.

There has never been this much transparency. But the President sent the cameramen out of the room after his tirade against Prime Minister Tusk and his government. Tusk didn't get a chance to publicly confront the president's alternative truths with his version of events. The public broadcaster had increased the tension even further and divided the screen: on one side you could see the self-satisfied President and on the other side Prime Minister Tusk, the Defense Minister and the Foreign Minister.

But just as the Prime Minister and the ministers were supposed to respond, the President had the sound and video turned off. He didn't even seem to notice that many television viewers saw this as pure contempt for the citizens. Shortly afterwards - this was also very unusual - the meeting of the general assembly of the constitutional judges was broadcast publicly.

After the president's security meeting, it was something completely different: 8 constitutional judges initially discussed whether they were allowed to speak and decide for all 15 constitutional judges. However, the two chairmen who were suspended for a month and another judge who was unlawfully appointed were removed from this committee.

5 constitutional judges close to PiS refused to take part in the general assembly because they viewed it as “illegal”. The 8 remaining judges, all legally elected by the current Sejm, the Polish House of Representatives, first decided on the Constitutional Court's budget for 2027. It was just in time to be forwarded to the government's budget committee.

They then decided to set up an internal disciplinary tribunal. This should decide whether the judicial immunity of the two chairmen should be withdrawn. Only then could they answer for their alleged crimes in court.

The members of the first and second instance of this disciplinary court were quickly drawn from among all 12 legally elected judges. In addition, the 8 judges present assured that they wanted to clear the mountain of around 1,200 cases as quickly as possible. The majority of these are inquiries from citizens who, unlike PiS party inquiries, often did not even receive an answer.

That should change in the future, so the Constitutional Court should serve the citizens again. Anyone who then listened to Attorney General Waldemar Żurek, who publicly presented the criminal allegations against the two chairmen of the Constitutional Court, could have had the impression on Tuesday evening that Poland is well on the way to finally becoming a constitutional state again.

It is to be expected that in one or two years Poland's president could pardon ex-constitutional judges who may have been convicted of abuse of office or the use of surveillance software against the opposition. But this is also regulated in the constitution and is part of democracy.