Constitutional Tribunal in turmoil as judge Korwin-Piotrowska suspends its president and freezes staff duties

A takeover announced on 30 October

On 30 October 2026, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced that she was taking over the leadership of the Constitutional Tribunal, citing her status as its longest-serving judge. She issued orders suspending the duties of the Tribunal's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and vice-president, Bartłomiej Sochański, for one month. A notice of the suspension appeared on the Tribunal's website around 18:00 that day. The Warsaw police (KSP) said officers had arrived on the grounds between 17:00 and 18:00 after a notification from Korwin-Piotrowska, who pointed to possible threats to the life or health of judges and staff. The police said they were acting on that information and cited a risk of public disorder. Later, police reported incidents at the protest outside, including objects thrown at officers, and detained three people who had jumped the fence onto the grounds.

A new order on 31 October

On 31 October 2026, Korwin-Piotrowska issued a further order, published on the Tribunal's website, stating that she had taken control of the institution. It limits the tasks of the Chancellery and the Legal Service Office to those she names and suspends most employees' duties, with pay retained, unless they are summoned to the building. The order closes the registry office, so all documents and correspondence must go by post through a postal operator. It also revokes all earlier authorisations to act for the employer, leaving employment decisions with her until new authorisations are issued. She justified the measures by pointing to the restoration of proper functioning of the Tribunal and the possible risk to health or life of judges and staff. She recommends that judges work outside the seat of the Tribunal.

“Due to the heightened risk of public disorder near the Tribunal's seat, I recommend that Tribunal judges perform their duties outside the Tribunal's seat.”

President Nawrocki's response

President Karol Nawrocki was on an official trip to Senegal, which he cut short to return to Poland. He then appeared at the Tribunal's seat, after consulting First President of the Supreme Court Zbigniew Kapiński and Święczkowski. In a statement he said he was convening urgent consultations with parliamentary forces on 31 October because of a threat to Poland's internal security, with the aim of restoring the political situation and the constitutional order. Korwin-Piotrowska told PAP that she could meet President Nawrocki at the Presidential Palace. On TVN24 she added that if he wanted to talk and the services judged it safe, he would be invited to the Tribunal. Święczkowski and representatives of the opposition objected to her decisions. She has called a General Assembly of Tribunal judges for 3 November, where motions by Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek to lift the immunities of both suspended judges are on the agenda, alongside the Tribunal's 2027 budget.

A dispute over her seat

The Sejm elected Korwin-Piotrowska as a Constitutional Tribunal judge on 13 March 2026, with 236 votes in favour, 185 against and four abstentions. She was one of six judges elected that day. President Nawrocki invited only Magdalena Bentkowska and Dariusz Szostek to take the oath at the Presidential Palace. The others, including Korwin-Piotrowska, took the oath in the Sejm on 9 April, using the formula addressed to the president, and then sent written oath statements to the Chancellery of the President. Święczkowski did not allow her to perform her duties, arguing that she had not taken the oath in the way the law requires, and she disputed that assessment. Her earlier dismissal from a post at a court in Opole ended in a complaint to Strasbourg.

In favour236

Against185

Abstained4

In favour

236 votes

Against

185 votes

Abstained

4 votes

Data from the article text