Polish prosecutors summon Constitutional Tribunal judges and staff for questioning

A clash over a new judge triggers a police search

On 14 October 2026, Maciej Berek was sworn in as a Constitutional Tribunal (TK) judge before the Sejm, the lower house of Poland's parliament, without President Karol Nawrocki present. Berek had been elected to the Tribunal by parliament in September 2026 and became, according to the outlet Notes from Poland, the fifth judge this year to take the oath without a presidential swearing-in.

After the ceremony, Berek went to the Tribunal building and tried to enter the judges' corridor. Acting Tribunal president Bogdan Świeczkowski blocked the doorway. Berek says he was pushed and filed a criminal complaint alleging a public official violated his physical inviolability, according to Interia and natemat.pl. Świeczkowski denies using force, saying "I stood in the doorway and did not let Mr Berek through," and suggested Berek may instead have touched him, according to Polsat News.

Berek's complaint asked prosecutors to secure the Tribunal's own security-camera recordings of the encounter. A search warrant was issued on 15 October 2026, and on 16 October prosecutor Andrzej Piaseczny, police officers and an IT specialist entered the Tribunal to copy documents and download the surveillance footage, according to TVN24 and Poland's Justice Ministry. Świeczkowski said he handed over the material voluntarily but called the visit "provocative" and said it met the criteria of a crime under Article 128 of the criminal code, which covers attacks on a constitutional state body, according to TVN24, Wprost and Dziennik.pl.

"All judges are being questioned," Tribunal president says

Świeczkowski said the prosecutor's office has summoned not only judges but also Tribunal employees — including staff who had only recently started work — for questioning, telling the outlet niezalezna.pl: "All judges are being questioned by the prosecutor." He described the summonses as an attempt to intimidate the Tribunal's leadership and staff and to undermine its independence.

In a separate statement reported by Interia, Świeczkowski had already objected to prosecutor Piaseczny calling Tribunal employees in for questioning, calling the move unlawful and saying the prosecutor's office had no authority to interfere in an independent constitutional body.

Justice Ministry's position

Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek has backed the prosecutor's actions as lawful. In comments reported by dorzeczy.pl, Żurek said the state "acts and will hold accountable every breach of law" and suggested Świeczkowski was relying on legal immunity and the backing of President Nawrocki.

Background: a dispute over judges dating to March 2026

The confrontation is the latest episode in a Tribunal crisis that has run since the Sejm elected six new TK judges on 13 March 2026. President Nawrocki administered the oath to two of them, Dariusz Szostek and Magdalena Bentkowska, but refused to swear in the other four, citing legal doubts, according to Interia. Those four judges then took their oath before the Sejm on 9 April 2026 instead.

The European Court of Human Rights ordered Poland in May 2026 to let the four judges work, but Świeczkowski did not grant them access to offices or cases, according to Notes from Poland. In September 2026, prosecutors charged two senior Tribunal officials — chancellery director Zofia H. and security-service head Piotr P. — with abuse of power and violating the judges' employment rights, offences carrying up to three and two years in prison respectively under Poland's criminal code. The Tribunal called the charges "absurd."

On 13 October 2026, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission issued an advisory opinion supporting the government's position that a president cannot review parliament's choice of judges and must proceed with the appointment process even if he declines to administer the oath, according to Notes from Poland. Berek's oath the following day, and the subsequent confrontation with Świeczkowski, followed directly from that dispute.

Separately, prosecutors have also sought to question President Nawrocki over his refusal to swear in the four judges in April. Nawrocki told reporters in September, as reported by Rzeczpospolita, that the questioning "will certainly happen" and that he would cooperate, while suggesting the case could set a record for the number of times a sitting president has been questioned by prosecutors.

Key figures in the dispute

What is still disputed

The two sides give opposing accounts of the same events. The Tribunal's official communiqué described the prosecutor's visit as an attempted "search of the seat of an independent judicial authority" and said it notified President Nawrocki. The Justice Ministry says it only obtained copies of documents and downloaded data from monitoring devices, which it considers a lawful evidence-gathering step. Neither side has released the disputed camera footage publicly; Świeczkowski has said it will only be shown to law enforcement.

It is not yet known how many judges and staff have been formally summoned, when the questioning sessions will take place, or whether any charges will follow. Świeczkowski has also alleged, without providing evidence described in the reporting, that Poland's Internal Security Agency is monitoring people connected to the Tribunal, a claim reported by niezalezna.pl.