Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, the country’s highest court for reviewing the constitutionality of laws, saw its sitting president and deputy suspended for one month on Friday. The decision led to massive protests and has been described by opponents of European Union-aligned Prime Minister Donald Tusk as a “coup attempt.”
The move was ordered by Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who announced she was assuming temporary leadership. The Tribunal’s official account rejected the order, stating that Korwin-Piotrowska “is not a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal” and that “all persons participating in these actions are committing the crime of a coup d’état.”
The events unfolded while President Karol Nawrocki was en route to Senegal for an official visit. “At a moment like this, the president must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” Nawrocki, who was elected in 2025, announced in a social media post.
In Poland’s system, the president is separately elected and holds powers that include swearing in judges to the Tribunal, while the prime minister leads the government and holds the bulk of day-to-day executive authority.
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Judicial coup in Poland by Prime minister & police tonight as Polish president was on a plane abroad
For everyone asking what’s happening in Poland tonight, here are the key points:
1. The Constitutional Tribunal’s leadership has been challenged. Judge Anna… pic.twitter.com/c2F3NnjsOX
— Brian McDonald B (@iamBrianBJ) October 30, 2026
The suspension followed months of deadlock after Parliament under Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition elected new judges to the Tribunal in 2026. Nawrocki declined to administer the oath to several of them, citing procedural concerns. Those judges took oaths in parliament instead.
Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski, an appointee of the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government that held power from 2015 to 2023, did not allow them to sit on cases. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek had requested that the immunity of Święczkowski and his deputy be lifted so that criminal proceedings could proceed against them for blocking the newly elected judges.
“Restoring the rule of law is our duty. After years of PiS lawlessness, it’s a difficult, sometimes painful process that requires decisive action. There is no other way,” Tusk said in a statement of his own. His government has described the prior PiS judicial reforms as having placed the Tribunal under political control and as incompatible with European Union standards of independence.
The Tribunal under PiS had issued rulings that Polish constitutional law took precedence over certain EU measures and had upheld a near-total abortion ban. Tusk’s coalition, which took office after the 2023 parliamentary elections, has sought to reverse those changes and resolve related disputes with Brussels.Police units were deployed outside the Tribunal building in Warsaw after Korwin-Piotrowska reported security concerns.
Officers entered the grounds following reports of objects thrown at police but, according to police statements, did not enter the building itself. Święczkowski’s deputy was turned away at the gates.
🇵🇱 Thousands of Poles are now gathered in front of the Constitutional Tribunal building in Warsaw, which has been occupied by police sent by Donald Tusk’s government.
Opposition figures are describing Tusk’s actions as an attempted coup. pic.twitter.com/NcqYhJeeCl
— Europa.com (@europa) October 30, 2026
Protests by PiS supporters gathered outside the court in the aftermath of the decision. Demonstrators chanted “Tusk traitor,” while others held Catholic rosaries and religious images while praying. PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński also arrived at the scene and attempted to enter the building. He stated that the police presence meant “from today, Poland is becoming a police state” and described the actions as a “coup” against the Tribunal before calling for presidential intervention.
The Tribunal leadership maintained that Święczkowski and his deputy remain in office. Earlier in 2025, Święczkowski had filed a complaint that led prosecutors to open an investigation into Tusk and other officials on allegations of a systemic effort to undermine constitutional bodies.
The current confrontation leaves the Tribunal’s ability to function under dispute while the president returns to the country and opposition figures continue to characterize the suspension and police deployment as an unlawful seizure of a constitutional institution.
