Zbigniew Bogucki, head of President Karol Nawrocki's office, said on Wednesday that a meeting of eight Tribunal judges held in Warsaw the previous day was unlawful, and said prosecutors would be notified of a suspected crime.
Bogucki argued that only tribunal head Bogdan Święczkowski had the authority to convene the general assembly of judges.
He also disputed whether the eight participants constituted a quorum, the minimum number required to make binding decisions.
Polish law normally requires 10 of the tribunal's 15 judges to attend. However, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who chaired Tuesday's meeting, argued that only 12 judges were eligible to participate, making eight sufficient.
The assembly approved a proposed budget for 2027, which Korwin-Piotrowska subsequently forwarded to parliament.
She announced on Wednesday that another meeting would take place on November 10 to consider changes to the tribunal's internal rules, including how cases are assigned to judges.
The dispute intensified last Friday when Korwin-Piotrowska, the court's longest-serving judge, assumed its leadership and ordered Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański to suspend their duties. Both reject her authority and maintain that the order has no legal effect.
Bogucki also announced a separate criminal complaint over an alleged "physical assault" on Nawrocki during a confrontation at the constitutional late Friday night.
"Nobody can touch, push or shove the president. The Criminal Code is unequivocal on this," he said.
Bartosz Grodecki, head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), said he and the president had entered the building at Sochański's invitation. He claimed that the president's jacket was torn and a button ripped off during the incident.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in the southern city of Kraków have opened an investigation into allegations that Korwin-Piotrowska and fellow judge Krystian Markiewicz were assaulted that night.
They are also investigating suspected attempts to influence the court's official activities through force or unlawful threats.
Justice Minister and Prosecutor-General Waldemar Żurek said investigators were examining the conduct of people who entered the Constitutional Tribunal without authorization, naming Bogucki and Grodecki among those concerned.
Żurek argued that the president had no right to enter the tribunal without an invitation, citing the constitutional separation of judicial and executive powers.
In a subsequent social media statement, he accused Nawrocki of employing tactics similar to organized confrontations between football hooligans.
The opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has also announced a criminal complaint, alleging an attempted unlawful takeover of a constitutional institution.
The Constitutional Tribunal decides whether legislation complies with Poland's constitution. Its composition and independence have been disputed for years, following judicial changes introduced under the former PiS government.
The latest confrontation concerns competing claims to the tribunal's leadership and the legal status of judges appointed by the current parliament.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has offered to meet the president this week to discuss ways to "permanently reduce tensions in the country."
Bogucki said on Wednesday that arrangements for the meeting would be announced after Nawrocki's return from a summit of the Visegrád Group, comprising Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
Meanwhile, protesters stemming from various right-wing organizations remained outside the court's Warsaw headquarters, joined periodically by opposition politicians.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP