Poland faces fresh court standoff as Tusk government seeks to reverse former regime’s changes

After two days of national mourning over a deadly shooting spree, Poland on Tuesday plunges back into a fierce decade-old battle over its top court and who actually rules the country.PiS have camped outside the court building for months trying to stop Tusk from rolling back those changes. (AFP/ Representative Image)Since his 2023 return to power, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has tried in vain to reform Poland's constitutional court, which the previous nationalist PiS government had brought under its control.The hard right Law and Justice (PiS) party, which is now in opposition, placed loyalists in the court when it ruled between 2015 and 2023. It also made leadership changes and imposed procedural restrictions.Also Read: Poland’s fight over its constitutional court gets physicalPiS have camped outside the court building for months trying to stop Tusk from rolling back those changes.Right-wing and far-right sympathisers have laid siege to the building, praying and chanting beneath makeshift shelters between visits from PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.Tusk's government maintains it is trying to correct "political" nominations and reforms made by PiS -- saying they ran counter to European democratic standards.At the end of 2025, the European Union's top court said the Polish tribunal did not meet the standards of an independent and impartial court due to contested appointments.But the right-wing opposition accuses the liberal, pro-EU administration of undermining constitutional order.The crisis escalated last month. Riot police moved in to block access to the court and a judge appointed by the parliamentary majority said she was taking over in the interim -- effectively suspending the incumbent, who is close to nationalist president Karol Nawrocki.After a gunman went on a shooting spree in Krakow on Saturday, killing six people, the PiS called off planned protests for Monday and Tuesday.But as a two-day mourning period ends, the political showdown can now resume, with a high-stakes meeting of the Constitutional Tribunal due to be held Tuesday.Eight judges backed by Tusk's coalition plan to meet to approve the tribunal's budget and consider disciplinary proceedings against its president and his deputy.Also Read: Kraków gunman dies in hospital after Poland mass shooting that killed sixTense situation Some commentators have said that the Krakow shooting will inflame emotions over the constitutional court.Poland has until now been spared from mass shootings and the Krakow massacre shocked the country.Six people, including a British man and an Austrian woman, were killed, and about 15 others were wounded, in Poland's worst shooting since the end of communism in 1989.The battle over the top court has helped bring right wing parties together ahead of elections due next year.Also Read: 3 bodies found at home of man who opened fire in Poland, they were likely his family membersWhile Tusk says he wants to bring the court in line with European standards, the opposition has accused him and the government of staging a "coup d'etat".To add to the tense political crisis, Poland's annual Independence March -- attended every year by far-right groups -- is to take place Wednesday.Some observers have described it as "high-risk", fearing crowds may deviate from the agreed route and head to the constitutional court instead.Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski has warned the capital will have heightened security and that services "will have the necessary personnel and resources to maintain public order".Concrete barriers have also been installed along a street in the city centre to close that section to traffic.