Justice Minister and Prosecutor-General Waldemar Żurek said on Wednesday that demonstrations outside the court, which rules on the constitutionality of Polish laws, must not prevent judges or members of the public from entering the building.
He said some judges had felt threatened as they attempted to pass through an entrance obstructed by tents and other structures erected by protesters.
"This is enormous pressure that should not be permitted," Żurek told a news conference.
He said the entrance should be cleared because the court is a public institution where citizens must be able to submit applications and official documents.
Żurek argued that blocking access could constitute a violation of the law.
However, he stressed that decisions about the demonstration rested with Warsaw city authorities and the police.
"As long as there is permission for such demonstrations, they are legal," he said, rejecting reports that authorities were preparing to disperse the protesters.
The demonstration, which began several weeks ago and is organised by right-wing circles associated with the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, intensified on October 30 after a group of judges elected by the current parliament announced that Anna Korwin-Piotrowska had assumed temporary leadership of the court.
Korwin-Piotrowska, the judge with the longest judicial service, issued orders suspending Constitutional Tribunal head Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański.
Święczkowski rejected the move, declaring that he remained the court's chief and describing the decisions of those challenging his authority as unlawful.
The confrontation prompted President Karol Nawrocki to cut short a trip to Senegal and return to Warsaw, where he entered the tribunal building in the early hours of Saturday.
Video recordings show a confrontation between members of his entourage and the newly elected judges.
The two sides dispute what happened.
Żurek contrasted the continuing protest outside the court with Tuesday's candlelight demonstrations organized in several Polish cities by the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD), a civic organization, under the slogan "A Light for the Tribunal."
He praised those gatherings for their peaceful character, citing songs, lights and slogans, and said there had been no disturbances or apparent violations of the law.
The minister said police had a duty to protect institutions such as the Constitutional Tribunal but urged the public not to believe rumors about an impending crackdown.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP