Asked about speculation that police could forcibly enter the tribunal to enable judges whom its head has barred from ruling on cases to take part in proceedings, Szefernaker said the presidential office would "respond accordingly at the appropriate moment."
His comments came after Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said police were responsible for ensuring compliance with the law and would intervene if laws were being violated at the tribunal.
Szefernaker on Thursday referred to a letter from Bartosz Grodecki, head of Nawrocki’s National Security Bureau (BBN), to Kierwiński asking him to confirm or deny reports that law enforcement agencies supervised by the interior ministry could take action against the tribunal.
Grodecki also said Nawrocki expected "the legal basis and factual justification for such a move to be presented if it is planned."
Szefernaker said the presidential office was preparing various scenarios but declined to provide details.
The dispute intensified after parliament elected former government minister Maciej Berek as a Constitutional Tribunal judge on September 4.
He became the eighth person elected to the tribunal since the centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power following the 2023 parliamentary election.
Nawrocki has not administered the oath of office to four of the seven judges previously elected by parliament. The presidential office has said there were procedural errors in their election.
The four judges later took an oath during a ceremony in parliament using wording that said they were taking the oath "before the president," although Nawrocki was not present.
The presidential palace has refused to recognise the ceremony as a valid oath, and tribunal head Bogdan Święczkowski has not allowed the four judges to hear cases.
Berek’s election has also become the subject of a dispute.
Nawrocki’s office has said the president will administer his oath only if Berek provides documents confirming that he meets the formal requirements for the position.
The dispute centres on whether Berek meets the requirement of 10 years of professional experience for Constitutional Tribunal judges.
Berek has published a certificate stating that he was entered on the list of legal advisers in 2002 and has held the right to practice since taking the professional oath. The document also records periods when he was registered as practising as a legal adviser, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The four judges whose oaths Nawrocki did not personally administer have filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.
The National Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating the circumstances surrounding the failure to administer their oaths and their subsequent exclusion from adjudicating at the Constitutional Tribunal.
The Constitutional Tribunal has been at the centre of Poland's long-running rule-of-law dispute.
Critics of judicial changes introduced under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government have argued that they gave politicians excessive influence over judicial appointments.
The tribunal became a central focus of the dispute after the PiS party came to power in 2015, with repeated conflicts over judicial appointments, the panel's composition and the legitimacy of some of its rulings.
In December last year, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Poland's Constitutional Tribunal had violated key principles of EU law by failing to respect the EU court's judgments and did not meet standards of independence due to irregularities in judicial appointments.
(sp/gs)
Source: IAR/PAP, TVP Info