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Tusk Vows No Compromise on Poland’s Constitutional Court Overhaul as EU Backs Parliament’s Right to Appoint Judges

Poland's prime minister said in a televised address Saturday that there can be no compromise on restoring the Constitutional Tribunal, after government-backed judges suspended the court's president and deputy and riot police guarded the building in Warsaw. The European Commission said appointing eight new tribunal members lies within parliament's power.

By admin Nov. 1, 2026 · 2:43 PM ET 3 min read

A large stone building with tall columns and wide steps on a wet street in Warsaw, with dark cars parked along the curb and a small group of people standing near the steps
A large stone building with tall columns and wide steps on a wet street in Warsaw, with dark cars parked along the curb and a small group of people standing near the steps

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said in a televised address on Saturday night that there can be no compromise on restoring the country’s Constitutional Tribunal, after a confrontation at the court in Warsaw that brought riot police to the building and drew protesters to its grounds.

“In certain matters, there can be no compromise,” Tusk said in the prime-time address, according to The Guardian. He said the shake-up was vital to restore a tribunal crippled by years of political disputes.

Television control room staff seated at desks with monitors, facing a large screen showing a lit stone government building at night

How the confrontation unfolded

The crisis flared on Friday, when a group of government-backed judges tried to take procedural control of the tribunal and suspended the PiS-appointed chief judge and deputy, according to The Guardian. Conservative supporters gathered outside the building in Warsaw, and riot police were drafted in to protect the premises.

Tusk said there was never any doubt that the court in the form imposed by PiS, the rightwing Law and Justice party, was not a genuine court, and he cited adverse rulings from European tribunals. He also faulted President Karol Nawrocki, an opposition-aligned president, for joining the protests on Friday night and forcing his entry into the court’s building to intervene.

“In a democratic state, no politician can enter a court to issue orders or intimidate judges, not even the president,” Tusk said. “We Poles have succeeded too well in building a strong state to surrender now.” He said it was the government’s duty to ensure the court’s security and the conditions it needs to operate, and added: “And I intend to fulfil that duty.”

People holding blank white banners facing a line of police officers in riot gear in a wet city square at night, in front of a lit classical building

The dispute has roots that go back more than a decade. The court sat at the core of rule-of-law clashes between PiS and the European Union during the party’s eight years in power. Since returning to office in 2023, Tusk has tried to unwind those judicial changes, but opposition-aligned presidents with broad veto powers have frustrated his agenda. Earlier this year, Nawrocki refused to swear in five judges approved by parliament.

Not everyone agrees the government’s move was lawful. Poland’s Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights said on Saturday that the legal basis for the temporary suspension was questionable and warned it would not contribute to restoring the court. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski conceded that the events outside the court were “not elegant,” but said the alternative was to concede what he called an unconstitutional transformation of Poland into a presidential republic. Nawrocki held cross-party political talks on Saturday, with no apparent breakthrough, and his senior aide, Zbigniew Bogucki, called Tusk “a pathological liar, who is setting Poland ablaze.”

Modern glass office buildings in Brussels with a row of tall poles holding blank banners, under a grey sky

Brussels weighs in, and critics push back

The European Commission said on Saturday it was closely monitoring the crisis. A Commission spokesperson told Euronews that it is for the Polish authorities to ensure the tribunal can function in line with the Polish constitution and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

“The appointment of eight new members of the Constitutional Tribunal lies within the constitutional power of the Sejm, Poland’s parliament,” the spokesperson added. The spokesperson also pointed to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which on May 5, 2026 issued interim measures requiring the competent Polish authorities to refrain from hindering judges appointed by the Sejm in March 2026 from taking up and exercising their duties.

The co-chairs of the European Conservatives and Reformists group condemned the government’s actions on Saturday and backed Nawrocki. “The Tusk government’s actions constitute a clear and grave violation of the rule of law. We condemn this attack on judicial independence and Poland’s constitutional safeguards. No government stands above the law,” co-chair Nicola Procaccini said.

The confrontation sets the battle lines before next year’s parliamentary election, with polls pointing to a close race between Tusk’s broad coalition and the nationalist right, according to The Guardian.

Reporting based on coverage by The Guardian and Euronews via Daily Guardian Europe.

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