Nawrocki and his delegation had been travelling to Senegal, where he was scheduled to meet with the country’s president and representatives of the African Union.
"In such a moment, the president must be in Poland. I am interrupting my flight to Senegal. I am returning," Nawrocki said on X.
Warsaw police said officers were carrying out their statutory duties on the grounds of the Constitutional Tribunal but had not entered the building.
The deployment followed a request from Constitutional Tribunal judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who warned of possible "threats to the lives and health" of judges and tribunal employees, as well as a risk of public disorder, state news agency PAP reported.
Police said they were responding to incidents in the area of a demonstration outside the tribunal, including objects being thrown at officers.
"Police are carrying out their statutory duties with respect for the independence of the Constitutional Tribunal and within the limits of their legal powers," the Warsaw police department said.
It said the officers’ actions were aimed at "fulfilling their legal obligations, particularly ensuring public safety and order," and did not constitute interference in the tribunal’s work as an institution.
The National Police Headquarters said the operation was also carried out in response to requests from Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek and Korwin-Piotrowska.
Żurek had asked police to pay particular attention to the tribunal’s security because of ongoing protests around the building. Korwin-Piotrowska had notified the police chief that planned activities at the tribunal could pose a threat to the safety of judges and employees and disrupt public order.
Police also rejected reports that officers had forcibly removed members of the tribunal’s security service from the building.
The Warsaw police department reiterated that its officers were on the tribunal’s grounds but not inside the building.
Police called for calm, urged people not to take actions that could endanger others and asked them to comply with lawful instructions from officers.
Dispute over Constitutional Tribunal
The events at the tribunal come amid a broader dispute over the rule of law and judicial institutions between Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist government and the right-wing opposition, backed by Nawrocki.
The Constitutional Tribunal is tasked with adjudicating on the compliance of laws with the country's constitution.
Tusk said earlier this month that his government would work to restore Poland’s legal and constitutional order using all available means, after Nawrocki failed to receive the oaths of judges elected by parliament to the Constitutional Tribunal.
Tusk said the judges had been chosen lawfully and accused Nawrocki of shirking his constitutional duties by refusing to receive their oaths.
He said his government had sought since taking office to restore the rule of law and would continue doing so "step by step."
Tusk said the judges had been chosen "in accordance with the law, the Constitution and good practice," while Nawrocki’s refusal to receive their oaths meant the president was "renouncing the duties" imposed on him by the Constitution.
Tusk also said Poland had operated for too long without a properly elected Constitutional Tribunal and that his government would restore the country’s legal and constitutional order "by the means available to the state," citing both legal authority and the national interest.
Żurek said earlier this month that the state must do everything necessary to ensure that the Constitutional Tribunal "starts operating in accordance with the law."
He said he expected the court to be "rebuilt as an institution serving citizens."
The panel has faced significant criticism in recent years. Its legitimacy has been questioned due to a series of contentious judicial appointments made under the previous government.
Several Polish judges' associations, along with some international judicial organisations and constitutional law experts, have labelled it a "puppet court."
Critics such as former tribunal head Andrzej Zoll have argued that some of these appointments violated the Polish constitution.
Zoll contended that the tribunal's current composition includes individuals improperly selected, undermining its ability to function in a fully constitutional capacity.
In December last year, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Poland's Constitutional Tribunal had violated fundamental principles of EU law and could not be considered independent or impartial.
The Luxembourg-based court said the tribunal had been compromised by "serious irregularities" in the appointment of three judges and its president, adding that those flaws undermined the rule of law.
Tusk said at the time that the ruling by the EU's top court gives his government the green light to "try to fix" the tribunal after years of legal turmoil under the previous administration.
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Source: IAR/PAP, TVP Info