Polish President Karol Nawrocki said a forcible takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal, one of the country's highest judicial bodies, took place in Warsaw overnight on October 30, the website infohub.kz reports.

"Last night there was a breach of public order in the Republic of Poland and a forcible seizure of a constitutional state body. I held consultations with the First President of the Supreme Court, Judge Zbigniew Kapiński, who also does not consider the actions of those usurping power in the Constitutional Tribunal to be lawful," he said, addressing protesters.

Nawrocki called for the restoration of law and order and for security forces to leave the grounds of the Constitutional Tribunal.

"In connection with the threat to the internal security of the Republic of Poland, I am convening urgent consultations today with representatives of parliamentary forces in order to achieve stabilization of the political situation and the restoration of constitutional order," he added.

According to the publication, two groups of judges in Poland consider themselves the legitimate representatives of the Constitutional Tribunal, while the president and the government back different sides. As a result, the question of who has the right to lead the court and control its building has become the subject of a political standoff.

The conflict began back in 2015. That year the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power and began changing the judicial system. In particular, it appointed Constitutional Tribunal judges to seats already occupied by judges elected by the previous parliament. This triggered accusations of politicizing the court and a crisis of its legitimacy.

After Prime Minister Donald Tusk returned to power in 2023 (leader of the Civic Coalition, which together with other parties now forms the ruling coalition), an attempt to reform the court began. Tusk's ruling coalition believes the Constitutional Tribunal was seized by the Law and Justice (PiS) party and that its rulings do not conform to the principles of independent justice. The government began restoring the judicial system but ran into resistance from President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of PiS.

On October 30 the conflict escalated. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who backs Donald Tusk's government, announced the temporary suspension of tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański, who are linked to the previous ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and oppose the government's attempts to change the court's composition and leadership. Korwin-Piotrowska said she would now lead the tribunal's work as the judge with the longest service. Święczkowski and Sochański rejected her claims.

Sochański described what was happening as a coup.

"I am unaware of any legal grounds that would allow such interference in the independence of the tribunal and an independent judge. A coup is taking place," he said.

After the tribunal's decision, protests began outside the court building, and police entered its grounds.

Because of the events in the country, the president abruptly cut short his trip to Senegal, returned to Poland and entered the tribunal's grounds. Judges, including Korwin-Piotrowska, blocked his path but were unable to stop him.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, for his part, spoke of the "restoration of the rule of law."