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Key takeaways
- Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska said she ordered the suspension of the tribunal's president and deputy; the court's X account rejected it.
- Tusk wrote that restoring the rule of law is a duty; the court's X account alleged a coup d'état.
- Neither legal reading has been tested before a body both sides accept; no reaction from the European Commission had been reported by about 23:00 CET.
A notice on the Constitutional Tribunal's website, which TVN24 reported was posted at about 18:00 CET on Friday 30 October 2026, announced a "break in the activities" for the court's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański. It cited Article 130 of the law on common courts. It did not say who had ordered the break, Notes from Poland reported. TVN24, which saw the orders, reported that they were issued by Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska. AP said the website then went down and that it could not independently verify the reasons given.
At about 20:07 CET, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska told TVP Info that she had issued the order, acting as the court's longest-serving judge. She is one of the judges the Sejm (the lower house of parliament) elected this year, and President Karol Nawrocki has refused to swear her in. The court's official X account replied that she "is not a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal" and that Święczkowski remains president, Euronews and AFP reported. The situation was still developing late on Friday.
How the evening unfolded
Nawrocki was flying to Senegal for a state visit. By about 18:20 CET, TVN24 and Super Express reported that his plane was turning back. He 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." (Euronews).
Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek said he had sent five motions to the Constitutional Tribunal to lift the immunity from prosecution of Święczkowski and Sochański, four concerning Święczkowski and one concerning Sochański, rp.pl reported at 19:19 CET. That step is separate from the suspension. At 19:43 CET, Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X: "Restoring the rule of law is our duty." AFP reported that he went on to describe a difficult, sometimes painful process that requires decisive action.
Seven people elected as judges this year entered the building under escort from the State Protection Service (SOP). They came through a gate from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, not the street entrance where protesters stood, court spokeswoman Weronika Ścibor told Kanał Zero. Korwin-Piotrowska confirmed she was one of them.
AP reported that police said they acted after incidents near the building, including objects thrown at officers. Police said three people were detained after entering the tribunal's grounds (AP, Super Express). Reuters reported that police said officers had entered the tribunal's premises. Police later said they did not enter the building and stayed on the grounds and on Aleja Szucha (rp.pl, SFG Media). Święczkowski arrived at the Tribunal after 20:00 CET and was not let into the building, rp.pl reported. Super Express reported that at 20:56 CET protesters cut a chain on the gate and he and Kaczyński entered the grounds.
Observers are reading: how each side's legal claim is built, and why a critic of the court's president says the suspension has no basis.
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What remains unresolved
Several points were open late on Friday. According to rp.pl, a disciplinary court has not yet ruled on the suspension, which under Article 130 can last no longer than a month. Whether Korwin-Piotrowska can lawfully lead the tribunal is disputed. Nawrocki landed in Warsaw shortly before 22:00 CET and was due to meet Zbigniew Kapiński, First President of the Supreme Court; Święczkowski also went to the Presidential Palace, PAP reported. Nawrocki had not said publicly what he would do. Korwin-Piotrowska said she had ordered a general assembly of the court's judges for 3 November, among other things to adopt its 2027 budget (wnp.pl); rp.pl, citing Onet, reported that the majority of judges elected by the Sejm was to convene it.
The European Union has a stake in the outcome. In December 2025, the EU's top court ruled that irregularities in appointing three tribunal judges and its president undermined the court's independence and impartiality under EU law (Politico). Earlier in October, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission said Nawrocki should swear in the judges so they can sit (BBC).
The government's stated aim, a bench that includes the judges the Sejm elected, matches that advice. Its means are contested by the court, the president's office and Matczak. No reaction from the European Commission had been reported by about 23:00 CET. The coming days may show whether the standoff becomes a lasting split over who legally runs the court.
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