Police enter Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, president returns early from Senegal trip

Police move into the tribunal

On Friday, 30 October, police entered Poland's Constitutional Tribunal after clashes broke out outside the building. Police said dangerous objects were thrown at officers during the disturbances. Later, police said their officers were carrying out lawful duties on the tribunal grounds and had not entered the building itself, a point at odds with other reports that describe entry into the premises. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska had requested the police deployment, warning of possible threats to the life and health of judges and court staff, as well as a risk to public order.

A dispute over who leads the court

The tribunal's president, Bogdan Sfientskofski, was reported suspended from his duties on Friday. TVP Info carried the suspension report, and the court's website was reported to have said he had been placed on suspension. A court statement posted on its website, however, says that Sfientskofski remains president and that Bartlomiej Sochanski remains vice-president. The same statement says that everyone taking part in these actions commits the offence of coup, and opposition politicians have called the action a coup. The tribunal's president had accused Donald Tusk's government of trying to overturn the constitutional order, and NewsIT reported that demonstrators had gathered outside the court in Warsaw that day. Earlier this year, President Karol Nawrocki had not sworn in three of the six judges chosen by parliament, while Sfientskofski had refused to let judges elected by the current parliamentary majority take up their posts. A long-running dispute over the tribunal has effectively paralyzed its work.

Nawrocki turns his plane around

President Karol Nawrocki interrupted his flight to Senegal on Friday and ordered the aircraft to return to Poland. He announced the decision in a post on X, saying the president needed to be in Poland at a moment like this. Some outlets described the aircraft as already heading to Senegal when he gave the order. Reports link the decision to the police operation and the suspension of the court's president, though none give a clear sequence of when each development happened. Further details on the conditions of the suspension and on how the police operation unfolded had not been published at the time of the latest reports.

Government response

Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that restoring the rule of law is the government's duty. He described the process as difficult and at times painful after years of rule by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, and said it required decisive action with no other path. The government's statement and the court's statement therefore give opposing readings of the same events.