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Poland's top court chief suspended as police secure tribunal, president turns plane around
Poland's Constitutional Tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy were suspended for a month by a judge elected by parliament, as police secured the court's grounds and President Karol Nawrocki turned back from a trip to Senegal.
Police secured the grounds of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on Friday after the court's president was suspended, escalating a long-running battle over the court and prompting President Karol Nawrocki to turn back his plane en route to Senegal.
"At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland," Nawrocki said.
Judge suspends court leadership
Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the judges elected by parliament in 2026, suspended Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański for one month and temporarily took charge of the institution. Nawrocki had refused to accept her oath of office, and Święczkowski had barred her from taking part in proceedings.
The suspension was posted on the tribunal's website around 6 p.m. local time, and the site went down soon after. Korwin-Piotrowska called police to the grounds, citing a potential threat to the safety of judges and staff.
Three detained outside the court
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the tribunal to denounce the suspension. Police said officers entered the court's premises after incidents outside, including dangerous objects thrown at police, but did not enter the building. Three people were detained after some protesters breached the fence.
Claims circulating online that police moved in on direct orders from Prime Minister Donald Tusk have not been officially confirmed.
Tusk: 'There is no other way'
Tusk defended the move. "Restoring the rule of law is our obligation," he said, acknowledging that the process is "sometimes painful" and adding: "There is no other way." He has accused Święczkowski of blocking judges elected by the parliamentary majority from taking up their posts.
Opposition Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński called the developments a "coup," urged Nawrocki to intervene and said Poland was becoming a police state.
Former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro called the suspension "a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order" and urged "resistance that will be loud, firm, solidary and fearless."
A court at the center of a political war
PiS governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, and critics in Poland and the European Union accused it of imposing political control over key judicial institutions, including the tribunal. The EU fined Poland over the reforms. Święczkowski was appointed to lead the court by former President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally.
Tusk's pro-European government, which took office in 2023 promising to restore judicial independence, refuses to recognize the tribunal's rulings because of judges appointed under PiS. Nawrocki and Święczkowski, in turn, refuse to recognize the judges elected by parliament in 2026. Earlier this year Nawrocki declined to swear in three of six judges nominated by lawmakers, leaving the court effectively paralyzed.
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