Bogdan Święczkowski announced outside the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) building on Wednesday that on Thursday he will make a “more resolute” attempt to get inside. He said he will receive a Supreme Court (SN) ruling indicating that he is president of the tribunal and will show it to the commander of the police officers deployed outside the building.
Święczkowski appeared outside the TK on Wednesday as the Independence March passed through Warsaw. He announced that tomorrow he will make a “more resolute attempt to get into the Constitutional Tribunal.” “A Supreme Court ruling will be delivered to me,” he said. He stated that police officers outside the TK will also be “bound” by it. He added that he will hand the SN ruling to the police commander.
A group of protesters with white-and-red flags and armbands listened to Święczkowski’s remarks in front of the TK building. Some wore the green vests of the Border Defense Movement (Ruch Obrony Granic). A small police presence was visible, and two officers in protective gear guarded the entrance to the TK grounds. Aleje Szucha remained closed to vehicle traffic. Organizers said more people would join those gathered once the march ended.
The ruling issued by the SN on Tuesday overturns the orders for an immediate break in the duties of TK President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański. Those orders preceded Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska’s takeover of the tribunal’s leadership on Oct. 30.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court found that it was not the proper body to hear the appeals filed by Święczkowski and Sochański against Korwin-Piotrowska’s order, and referred the matter to the TK “as a separate organ of the judiciary.” Święczkowski and Sochański were also reported to have appealed that SN ruling.
In a statement Tuesday, the Supreme Court said the appeal against its Friday ruling had been heard. It decided to overturn that ruling and send the case to be heard by the SN’s Chamber of Professional Liability, which is headed by Judge Maria Szczepaniec.
Following that decision, the SN heard the appeals of Święczkowski and Sochański later the same day.
In response to the SN’s statement, Judge Korwin-Piotrowska said that any rulings by the Supreme Court have no bearing on the continued effectiveness of the suspension of Święczkowski and Sochański from their duties. She added that only the TK’s disciplinary court can review orders on breaks in the work of the tribunal’s judges. (PAP)
