W piątek 30 października sędzia Anna Korwin-Piotrowska zawiesiła na miesiąc prezesa Trybunału Konstytucyjnego Bogdana Święczkowskiego i wiceprezesa Bartłomieja Sochańskiego. Prezydent Karol Nawrocki mówi o siłowym przejęciu TK, rząd Donalda Tuska – o przywracaniu praworządności. Poniżej ta wiadomość prostym angielskim (poziom B1), słowniczek i trzy pytania.
Fakty podajemy za TVN24, agencją Reuters (przedruk w The Jerusalem Post) oraz Al Jazeera (AFP). Stan na niedzielę 1 listopada.
Najpierw słowniczek: 10 słów z tekstu
| English | Polski |
|---|---|
| Constitutional Tribunal | Trybunał Konstytucyjny |
| judge | sędzia |
| to suspend | zawiesić (w obowiązkach) |
| head of the court | prezes sądu |
| deputy | zastępca |
| rule of law | praworządność |
| to take over | przejąć |
| protester | protestujący, demonstrant |
| riot police | oddziały prewencji policji |
| immunity | immunitet |
Uwaga na słowo president. To prezydent państwa, ale także prezes sądu (the President of the Tribunal). Żeby się nie myliło, o Święczkowskim piszemy w tekście the head of the court.
What happened at Poland’s top court?
The Constitutional Tribunal checks if Polish laws agree with the constitution. On Friday evening, 30 October, judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended the head of the court, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, for one month. She says she now leads the court as its most senior judge.
Her order says that Święczkowski did not let some judges work and broke the rules for giving cases to judges. On the same day, Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek asked the court to remove the immunity of both men.
How did the President react?
President Karol Nawrocki was flying to Senegal. He turned his plane back, landed in Warsaw and went to the court building at night. In a statement, he spoke about „a forcible takeover of a constitutional body”. On Saturday he held crisis talks with party leaders. Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition did not come.
Several hundred people protested outside the court. Riot police guarded the gate, and the police detained a few protesters. On Sunday morning Święczkowski tried to enter the building again, but he was not let in.
Why are they fighting?
The conflict started in 2015. The Law and Justice (PiS) government chose judges for seats that were already filled, and its judges later got a majority in the court. Critics say that since then the court has not been independent. The EU’s top court said the same.
Tusk’s government came to power in 2023 and wants to change this. Tusk says he is restoring the rule of law. The President and PiS say the government is breaking the law. The court’s own account on X called the suspension a „coup d’etat”.
What happens next?
- The suspension lasts one month.
- Korwin-Piotrowska called a meeting of the court’s judges for Tuesday, 3 November, about the court’s budget for 2027.
- The President’s office says it will report her and two other judges to prosecutors.
- The next parliamentary election is about a year away.
The dispute is about the court itself. It does not bring new rules for people who live in Poland at the moment.
Check yourself: 3 questions
- Who suspended the head of the Constitutional Tribunal, and for how long?
- What did President Nawrocki do when he heard the news?
- What will the judges talk about on 3 November?
Odpowiedzi: 1. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, for one month. 2. He turned his plane back and went to the court in Warsaw. 3. The court’s budget for 2027.
W tekście jest sporo czasowników nieregularnych w czasie przeszłym: went, held, said, got. Jeśli mylą Ci się ich formy, zajrzyj do poradnika jak uczyć się czasowników nieregularnych bez tabeli na pamięć. Poprzednią polityczną wiadomość tłumaczyliśmy po angielsku przy okazji odejścia Katarzyny Pełczyńskiej-Nałęcz z rządu.
Fot.: Policjanci przed siedzibą Trybunału Konstytucyjnego w Warszawie (wrzesień 2022). PanBe, CC0, Wikimedia Commons.






