Polish judge Korwin-Piotrowska says she suspends constitutional court chief

On 30 October 2026, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska said she had ordered Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal president, Bogdan Święczkowski, suspended from his duties. Korwin-Piotrowska is a parliament-elected judge whom President Karol Nawrocki has refused to swear in.

The tribunal announced that Korwin-Piotrowska was in charge. Its competing social media account said the court’s website had been unlawfully taken over, Święczkowski remained president and Korwin-Piotrowska was not a tribunal judge. The account accused those involved of committing a coup.

The appointment dispute dates to 2015, when Law and Justice sought to appoint judges to seats already filled by the preceding government. The conflict has effectively paralyzed the tribunal, with the government and president rejecting each other’s appointees, Reuters said.

The appointments behind the dispute

Święczkowski previously served as a deputy justice minister in the Law and Justice administration. He became tribunal president in December 2024.

Since taking office in 2023, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government has refused to recognize the tribunal’s legitimacy and ignored its rulings, Notes from Poland said. Parliament elected 8 tribunal judges in 2026, but Nawrocki refused to swear in 5, citing concerns about their selection or qualifications.

Polish law requires parliament-elected tribunal judges to swear an oath “before the president.” The judges Nawrocki declined to swear in instead held ceremonies in parliament and submitted their oaths to his office.

Święczkowski refused to admit those judges despite a European Court of Human Rights order that they be allowed to take their positions. He argued that the European court lacked authority to issue the order.

The disputed legal basis

A statement on the tribunal’s website announced a break in the duties of Święczkowski and deputy president Bartłomiej Sochański. It cited Article 130 of the law on common courts. The report described that provision as allowing a court president or justice minister to interrupt a judge’s duties immediately if the judge is caught committing an offense.

Korwin-Piotrowska accused Święczkowski of blocking judges from taking their positions and overseeing irregularities in assigning judges to cases. Her claim to seniority rests on beginning her judicial career in 1995, rather than on having served longest on the tribunal.

Constitutional-law scholar Marcin Matczak, who also criticized Law and Justice’s judicial reforms, disputed the suspension’s legal basis. He said the justice minister’s oversight of common courts does not extend to the Constitutional Tribunal.

Police, protests and the response

Riot police were deployed outside the tribunal that evening. Hundreds of protesters gathered amid a heavy police presence. Politico Europe said protesters and police clashed in Warsaw.

Tribunal spokeswoman Weronika Ścibor said State Protection Service officers escorted 7 people elected as judges that year into the building, while Sochański was denied entry. The service protects state officials. Police also prevented Święczkowski from entering the grounds.

Nawrocki interrupted his flight to Senegal and turned back toward Poland, saying the president needed to be in the country at such a moment. Early on 31 October, his chief of staff, Paweł Szefernaker, said Nawrocki had entered the tribunal with Supreme Court First President Zbigniew Kapiński.

Tusk defended the intervention, saying restoring the rule of law was his government’s duty. He said the process required decisive action after what he characterized as years of Law and Justice-led lawlessness.

Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek said he had submitted requests to the Constitutional Tribunal to lift Święczkowski’s and Sochański’s immunity from prosecution.