Warsaw:Poland's constitutional crisis escalated on Thursday when police blocked Bogdan Swieczkowski, the disputed chief of the Constitutional Tribunal, from entering its headquarters, despite a Supreme Court order overturning his suspension.

According to Anadolu Agency – English, Swieczkowski, accompanied by suspended Vice President Bartlomiej Sochanski and judges Stanislaw Piotrowicz and Jaroslaw Wyrembak, arrived at the Warsaw headquarters to assert their right to resume duties, following the Supreme Court's Tuesday ruling.

Swieczkowski presented the court order that reversed his and Sochanski's suspensions, asserting it entitled them to return to their roles. However, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the tribunal's current head, dismissed the ruling, stating that only the tribunal's disciplinary court had the authority to review such suspensions, which she maintained were still valid. Consequently, the police did not grant entry.

Swieczkowski threatened to involve a court bailiff and indicated further attempts to gain entry would occur the following week if necessary. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek also contested the Supreme Court's decision, criticizing the legitimacy of the judicial appointments system that appointed the involved judges.

The incident reflects the ongoing power struggle over Poland's highest constitutional court, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition clashing with President Karol Nawrocki and the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party. The crisis initially erupted on October 30 when Korwin-Piotrowska suspended Swieczkowski and Sochanski, citing her authority as the tribunal's longest-serving judge.

President Nawrocki, allied with PiS, returned from an overseas trip to denounce the suspensions as an attack on judicial independence, while Prime Minister Tusk defended his government’s actions as necessary to uphold constitutional order. The conflict traces back to 2015 when PiS began implementing judicial reforms that have led to disputes with the European Union over the judiciary's independence in Poland.