Who Runs Poland's Top Court? A Suspension Order Sets Off a Standoff

The fight over Poland's highest constitutional court has moved from a dispute over appointments to a contest over who is in charge of the building. On Friday, Oct. 30, Constitutional Tribunal judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska issued an order suspending the tribunal's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, according to Swarajya and AzerNews. The tribunal's leadership says she has no authority to do so.

Swarajya reported that the suspension is for one month and that Korwin-Piotrowska said she was temporarily taking over as the tribunal's longest-serving judge. The tribunal rejected the move on its official X account and called it a coup d'état.

Two competing claims over one institution

According to AzerNews, the tribunal's statement said Korwin-Piotrowska is not a judge of the tribunal and that everyone taking part in the action was committing the crime of a coup d'état. AzerNews added that the accusation reflects how deep the dispute runs but does not establish that a coup has legally occurred.

Reports differ on some details. AzerNews described police as having entered the tribunal, while also saying officers were deployed around its headquarters after security warnings. Swarajya described police securing the perimeter outside the building. Both outlets agree that a large police presence surrounded the site.

Protests, an arrest and a president's early return

Swarajya reported that dozens of protesters gathered outside, and that Święczkowski spoke to supporters through a megaphone. Three people were arrested after allegedly throwing objects at officers, the outlet said. An AFP journalist at the scene, quoted by AzerNews, said demonstrators chanted against Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and some prayed with rosaries and religious images.

Opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński of the Law and Justice (PiS) party said outside the court that "Poland has become a police state," according to Swarajya.

President Karol Nawrocki, who is aligned with PiS, was flying to Senegal when the news broke. Swarajya said he turned his plane around mid-flight. In a post on X, he wrote that "the President must be in Poland" at a moment like this and said he was returning.

AzerNews also reported that Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek told journalists he had asked for the judicial immunity of Święczkowski and Sochański to be lifted.

How the dispute got here

The tribunal has been contested for years. Swarajya and AzerNews both trace the roots to 2015, when the then-governing PiS introduced judicial changes that the European Union repeatedly criticized. AzerNews said PiS governed until 2023 and that the tribunal issued rulings asserting the primacy of certain Polish legal provisions over EU law, which added to tensions between Warsaw and Brussels.

After taking office in 2023, Tusk pledged to restore judicial independence and settle Poland's disputes with EU institutions. The sources describe resistance from Nawrocki. Swarajya reported that earlier in 2026 he refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament, which it said effectively paralyzed the tribunal. AzerNews wrote that new judges elected by parliament reportedly took their oaths and began work without the president's participation. The two accounts differ on how many judges are involved and how the oaths were handled.

What this means for Poland's legal system

The practical effect is uncertainty over who speaks for the country's top constitutional court. Swarajya said the standoff has left the tribunal in limbo and raised questions about judicial independence and the rule of law in Poland, an EU member state. The tribunal is the body that rules on constitutional questions, so a disagreement over who legitimately leads it affects how those questions can be settled.

The sources do not say how the dispute will be resolved or whether the suspension order will take legal effect. Neither says what decision, if any, will follow on the immunity requests. The one-month length of the suspension, as reported by Swarajya, is the only timeframe mentioned.

Earlier on Around Prague: Poland's Court Fight Widens With Immunity Requests and an Ambassador's Exit

Around Prague, based on reporting by Swarajya, AzerNews