Police enter Polish Constitutional Tribunal as court leadership is disputed

Police move onto the tribunal premises

Police officers appeared at the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw between 17:00 and 18:00 on 30 October, after a notification from judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska. Her notice warned of threats to the life and health of judges and court staff, as well as a risk of public disorder. The Warsaw police described the operation as a security measure against aggressive behaviour by a group trying to break through a fence. Accounts differ on how far officers went: police and a government-aligned commentator said they were not inside the building, while Niezależna reported that police had entered the tribunal and that at least several dozen officers in full gear stood outside. A protest formed at the entrance, and Rzeczpospolita reported that police detained several people who had breached the fence.

Competing claims over who runs the court

Shortly after 18:00, a notice on the tribunal's website said president Bogdan Święczkowski and vice president Bartłomiej Sochański were suspended from their duties for one month, pending a ruling by a disciplinary court. Citing information from Maciej Taborowski, Magdalena Bentkowska and Maciej Berek, PAP reported that Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, as the longest-serving judge, had taken over the court's leadership. Her standing is disputed: the Sejm elected her in March 2026, and she did not take the oath before the president, doing so at a Sejm ceremony instead. The court's own X account said its website had been illegally taken over, that Święczkowski remains president and Sochański remains vice president, and that Korwin-Piotrowska is not a judge of the tribunal. It warned that anyone acting against the court would be committing a coup.

Sochański, who was not let through the gate, addressed the officers directly:

“Please contact the person responsible for this operation. I am waiting at the gate.”

Government and presidential response

Waldemar Żurek, named as prosecutor general in one report and justice minister in another, spoke at a press conference on the evening of 30 October. He pointed to prosecutors' proceedings over manipulated court panels and blocked judges.

“The coup against the Tribunal was carried out many years ago, when three judge doubles were sworn in under cover of night.”

He argued that the opposition's outrage was a distraction while the court tried to rebuild. Rzeczpospolita reported that he also sent the tribunal extensive motions to lift the immunity of Święczkowski and Sochański.

Prime minister Donald Tusk defended the move in a post on X:

“Restoring the rule of law is our duty. After years of PiS-era lawlessness it is a difficult and sometimes painful process that requires decisive action. There is no other way.”

President Karol Nawrocki, a declared rival of Tusk, suspended his trip to Senegal and had the presidential plane turned back in flight. He said that at such a moment the president must be in Poland.

Opposition reaction

Opposition politicians largely framed the events as a coup. Jarosław Kaczyński wrote on X that Poland was becoming a police state, a step toward authoritarianism, and called for the protest to continue. Przemysław Czarnek, the PiS candidate for prime minister, said the Tusk government was not respecting any limits. On Polsat News, Paweł Jabłoński compared the police presence to episodes in Latin America and said nothing similar had happened even in Russia. Borys Budka, a former justice minister speaking for the ruling coalition on the same programme, called claims that police were inside the building lies. He said officers were only securing the area outside to prevent escalation, and that a disciplinary motion against Święczkowski made his suspension necessary.