The political and constitutional crisis in Poland has sharply escalated after the temporary suspension of the President of the Constitutional Court, Bogdan Świnczkowski, and his deputy, Bartolomej Sochanski, was announced on October 30. The measure is for one month.
Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska said she was taking over the temporary leadership of the institution. According to data quoted by Polish media, she referred to a provision according to which, if the President is unable to appoint a deputy, the court is headed by the judge with the longest tenure. Korwin-Piotrowska is among the judges elected by the current parliamentary majority whose inauguration is part of the dispute with the president.
Warsaw police were sent to the area around the building after a report of possible threats to judges and staff and a risk of public order disruption. The police clarified that the officers did not enter the building and that their actions did not constitute interference in the work of the Constitutional Tribunal. Three people were detained after protesters broke through the fence and others threw objects at police officers.
The announcement of the removal initially appeared on the tribunal's website. The site later stopped working, and the institution's official account said it had been illegally taken over. The post claimed that Świnczkowski and Sochanski remain president and vice-president, and that Korwin-Piotrowska is not a judge at the Constitutional Tribunal. The same statement described the actions as a criminal attack on the constitutional order. The reasons for the removal could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press because the website was suspended.
Sympathizers of the opposition party “PiS“ gathered in front of the building. They protested against the removal of the leadership, and the tension led to clashes with the police. Former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro described the actions as “a clear, criminal attack on the constitutional order“ and called for resistance. This is a political assessment of the opposition, not a fact established by a court.
President cuts short his visit to Senegal
President Karol Nawrocki cut short his trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw. “At such a time, the president should be in Poland. "I am aborting my flight to Senegal. I am returning," he wrote. After his return, Nawrocki met with the first president of the Supreme Court, Zbigniew Kapinski, and later visited the building of the Constitutional Tribunal.
The dispute escalates over the composition of the court
Prime Minister Donald Tusk defended the government's actions. "Restoring the rule of law is our duty," he wrote, adding that after years of lawlessness, the process is difficult and sometimes painful, but it requires decisive action. The government argues that it must restore the work of the tribunal with duly elected judges.
At the center of the dispute are four judges elected by parliament in March 2026. The president has not accepted their oaths, and the tribunal's leadership has not allowed them to participate in the sessions. In May, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the removal of obstacles to their entry into and performance of their duties, but the conflict has not been resolved.
The standoff is a continuation of the crisis surrounding the judiciary that began after PiS came to power in 2015. Tusk's government, which took office in 2023, promised to restore the independence of the courts, but its reforms have met resistance from the president and from institutions whose bodies were formed during PiS rule. In December 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the Polish Constitutional Tribunal did not meet the requirements for an independent and impartial court.
At this point, the two sides present mutually exclusive versions of who has the legal right to lead the Constitutional Tribunal. The removal of the two leaders, the police presence and the intervention of the president turned the dispute over the appointments into an open institutional conflict.
Sources: apnews.com, polskieradio.pl, pb.pl