Poland's political, constitutional crisis explained: 5 events that led up to coup attempt
3. Tusk moves against the reforms, 2024 to 2025
Tusk took office after winning the 2023 election, pledging to undo the PiS changes to the courts. In March 2024, parliament passed a resolution questioning the standing of the three stand-in judges and Przyłębska's right to lead the court.
Two reform bills followed that September, changing how judges were appointed and how the tribunal worked. Duda sent both to the tribunal for review, so neither became law.
Duda named Święczkowski tribunal president in December 2024. Święczkowski once served as national prosecutor and is a close ally of Zbigniew Ziobro, who served as justice minister under PiS.
The government then stopped printing the tribunal's rulings in Poland's official legal gazette, the Journal of Laws. It cited doubts about how the court was composed. The tribunal's leaders called this illegal and said its judgments remained binding.
Last August, Tusk announced a plan to fill the tribunal with lawfully appointed judges. The EU's top court ruled last December that the tribunal fell short of European standards for independent courts.
