The Wondering Englishman

The Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture expresses its gravest concern at, and firm opposition to, the forcible takeover of the seat of the Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunał Konstytucyjny) by the police. This operation, carried out under cover of night and while the President of the Republic of Poland was abroad, constitutes an unprecedented assault on a constitutional organ of the State and strikes at the very foundations of the Polish constitutional order. On 30 October 2026, police officers took control of the empty building of the Tribunal and have since been denying the Tribunal’s security staff, the Vice-President of the Tribunal and its Director entry to the premises. Inside the building is Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, a person elected by the Sejm to the office of judge of the Constitutional Tribunal who has not taken the oath of office before the President of the Republic, as the law requires before a term of office may commence. She has signed an order under which she herself is to “act in place of” the lawful President of the Tribunal for the duration of his de facto suspension. Under Article 173 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the Constitutional Tribunal constitutes a separate power, independent of the other branches of government, and all organs of public authority may act solely on the basis of, and within the limits of, the law (Article 7 of the Constitution). No provision of law authorises the police, or the government that directs them, to take control of the seat of the Tribunal or to deny its organs access to the building. These actions violate the principle of the separation and balance of powers (Article 10 of the Constitution) and bear the hallmarks of forcible interference by the executive in the functioning of the judiciary. The order purporting to “suspend” the President of the Tribunal is a legally non-existent act (actus non existens) and produces no legal effects. First, under the Act of 30 November 2016 on the Status of Judges of the Constitutional Tribunal (ustawa o statusie sędziów Trybunału Konstytucyjnego), the taking of the oath before the President of the Republic is a prerequisite for the establishment of a judge’s service relationship and the commencement of the term of office. A person who has not taken the oath is not a serving judge of the Tribunal and may not issue any acts in its name. Second, Polish law provides no mechanism by which an interruption in the exercise of the office of President of the Constitutional Tribunal could be ordered, still less by the act of a single unauthorised individual. Third, the signatory of the order has ruled on her own status, installing herself as de facto President of the Tribunal in flagrant breach of the elementary principle nemo iudex in causa sua. We recall that under Article 128 § 1 of the Polish Penal Code (Kodeks karny), anyone who, with the intent of removing a constitutional organ of the Republic of Poland by force, engages in activity directly aimed at achieving that objective is liable to a penalty of up to 20 years’ imprisonment. The actions taken against the Constitutional Tribunal may satisfy the statutory elements of this offence. We further recall that two years ago the President of the Constitutional Tribunal filed a notification with the public prosecutor’s office alleging that the government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk had committed the crime of coup d’état. Today’s events form part of an ongoing process of undemocratic consolidation of power directed against independent constitutional institutions. The Ordo Iuris Institute demands: 1. the immediate withdrawal of police officers from the seat of the Constitutional Tribunal and the restoration of full access to the building for the Tribunal’s organs and staff; 2. the disclosure of the legal basis for the actions taken and of the identity of those who ordered them, together with the political accountability of the members of the Council of Ministers (Rada Ministrów) concerned; 3. the immediate initiation of proceedings by the public prosecutor’s office in respect of the attack on a constitutional organ of the State (Article 128 of the Penal Code) and the abuse of powers by public officials (Article 231 of the Penal Code). We call upon all fellow Poles, at the moment of the gravest constitutional crisis in the history of the Third Republic of Poland, to stand in defence of the constitutional order and to repel the coup d’état. In this hour of trial, the eyes of citizens are turned towards the President of the Republic of Poland, who, upon receiving news from the capital, turned back his flight to Senegal and is now returning to his Homeland. It is in his hands that the Constitution places the task of guaranteeing the continuity of State authority (Article 126(1) of the Constitution) and of ensuring observance of the Constitution (Article 126(2) of the Constitution). With no great hope, the Institute calls upon the Venice Commission, the institutions of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE/ODIHR to respond urgently to the forcible assault on the constitutional court of a Member State. The very institutions which for years have declared their concern for the rule of law in Poland cannot remain silent when the executive, using armed units, seizes the seat of the constitutional court. Once again in its history, Poland stands in defence of freedom against creeping totalitarianism. The Ordo Iuris Institute will continue to monitor and document all violations of the law connected with these events, stands ready to provide legal assistance to those subjected to repression, and will pursue the matter before the competent national and international bodies. ▶️ordoiuris.pl/en/press-newsde…