Poland's top court in turmoil: judge suspends tribunal chief, police deploy and Nawrocki turns his plane back
A power struggle broke out at Poland's Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on Friday, 30 October. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the judges elected by parliament in 2026 whom the court's leadership had refused to admit, took charge as the longest-serving judge and suspended the tribunal's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy for one month. Police deployed around the building at her request. The opposition Law and Justice party called it a coup, and President Karol Nawrocki turned back his plane to Senegal.
Shortly after 6 p.m. local time, a notice on the tribunal's website said that Święczkowski and vice-president Bartłomiej Sochański had been ordered to take an immediate one-month break from their duties, and that Korwin-Piotrowska, as the judge with the longest service, was now running the court. She confirmed on TVP Info that she had signed the orders. The legal basis cited is a provision of the law on common courts that allows a judge to be removed from duty at once for up to a month. The reasons given include blocking a general assembly of all judges elected by the Sejm to approve the court's 2027 budget, assigning cases to panels arbitrarily, and refusing since 9 April to let judges elected in 2026 hear cases.
Crowd outside the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on Friday evening:
Conflict over Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal escalates in Warsaw: judge suspends its leadership and president cuts short Africa trip
— @nexta_tv October 30, 2026
Korwin-Piotrowska asked the police to secure the court, citing possible threats to the life and health of judges and staff and a risk to public order. Warsaw police said officers were working on the grounds and on Aleja Szucha, the street outside, but had not entered the building. Police also reported incidents at a rally in front of the court, including dangerous objects thrown at officers. Święczkowski later arrived and tried to enter but was not let in, the news site Onet reported.
The tribunal's official X account said the website had been taken over unlawfully, that Święczkowski remains president and that Korwin-Piotrowska is not a judge of the court, and accused those involved of a coup. Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński called it an "attack on the Constitutional Tribunal" and, speaking outside the building, urged President Karol Nawrocki to use all his powers to stop it. Former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki and other PiS politicians joined the crowd. Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote that restoring the rule of law after "years of PiS lawlessness" is "difficult, sometimes painful" and requires decisive action.
Nawrocki, who was flying to Senegal for the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, wrote on X: "At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning." His plane turned back over Spain, PAP reported, and his office said he would meet the First President of the Supreme Court on his return. Prosecutor General and Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said he had sent the court five requests to lift the immunity of Święczkowski and Sochański so they can face criminal charges, and handed them to Korwin-Piotrowska.
The court has been at the centre of a long political fight. Tusk's government does not recognise rulings by judges appointed under the former PiS government, while Nawrocki has refused to swear in several judges elected by the Sejm in 2026 and Święczkowski has not let them work. Lawyers are divided on whether Friday's orders are legal. According to Onet, the judges elected by the current Sejm plan to hold a general assembly on 3 November to pass the court's budget.