Poland's political, constitutional crisis explained: 5 events that led up to coup attempt
2. PiS rewrites the rules, 2016 to 2023
Once in power, PiS changed how the tribunal heard cases, how many judges it needed to rule and the votes required for a decision. In March 2016, the court struck down the initial changes. Prime Minister Beata Szydło's government refused to publish that ruling, saying it had been reached by the wrong procedure.
In December 2016, Julia Przyłębska took over as head of the tribunal, and the three stand-in judges were allowed to sit on cases. Critics said PiS had put the court under political control, and PiS said it was repairing the institution.
The European Court of Human Rights found in 2021 that the tribunal, with Muszyński on the bench, did not meet the test of a court established by law. That same year, the tribunal also issued rulings that challenged the precedence of some EU law on the judiciary.
The court often sided with Polish law over EU law, and it helped impose an almost complete ban on abortion. The EU fined Poland over the PiS reforms.
By 2022 and 2023, judges inside the tribunal were split. Several argued that Przyłębska's six years as president were up, while she said she could stay until her nine-year term as a judge ended.
