The Constitutional Tribunal has issued a sharply worded statement in response to the Sejm’s vote to bring Maciej Świrski, Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), before the State Tribunal. According to the Tribunal, the resolution has no legal effect and the actions taken by parliament bear the hallmarks of a constitutional coup.
Earlier today, the Sejm, led by the ruling coalition, passed a resolution to hold Świrski accountable before the State Tribunal. The motion was approved with 237 votes in favor, 179 against, and 16 abstentions. The coalition accuses the KRRiT chairman of, among other things, blocking the distribution of license fee funds to public media and delaying licensing proceedings for private broadcasters.
Constitutional Tribunal: Parliamentary Resolution Legally Ineffective
In response, the Constitutional Tribunal released a statement declaring unequivocally that “the decision of the Sejm of 25 July 2025 (…) has no legal effect.” The reason cited was the failure to meet the constitutional requirement for the qualified majority necessary to adopt such a resolution.
According to the Tribunal, holding a member of the KRRiT constitutionally accountable requires a qualified majority of at least three-fifths of the statutory number of MPs. The governing coalition, however, passed the resolution with only a simple majority.
The basis for the Tribunal’s position is its own ruling issued on 16 July 2025. In that ruling, the Tribunal held that due to the constitutional status of KRRiT members as part of an independent body, the same stringent standards of constitutional accountability apply as for members of the Council of Ministers. As emphasized in the statement, this ruling is “final and universally binding.”
The Tribunal also pointed out that under its ruling, “the Constitution excludes the possibility of suspending the Chairman of the KRRiT based on a resolution of the Sejm to bring him before the State Tribunal.”
Accusation of a Coup d’État
The Constitutional Tribunal employed the strongest language in its statement, describing the actions of the Sejm as part of “a series of legal violations that constitute an element of a constitutional coup d’état.” It is these actions, the Tribunal noted, that formed the basis of an earlier criminal complaint filed by its President.
President of the Tribunal, Bogdan Święczkowski, revealed in February 2025 that he had submitted a notification of a suspected crime, pointing to the new governing majority’s actions against key state institutions as amounting to a “creeping coup.”
Further Steps
The Tribunal announced that in the coming days, its president will send a formal letter to the Speaker of the Sejm demanding compliance with the Tribunal’s rulings. The letter will refer not only to the matter of the KRRiT chairman but also to the President of the National Bank of Poland—suggesting that the conflict over institutional independence is likely to escalate.
Maciej Świrski himself declared after the Sejm vote that he does not recognize the outcome. “I will not resign, I will not suspend myself, nor will I alter my position in the National Broadcasting Council,” he stated, citing the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling.