On Friday, October 30, 2026, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska ordered a one-month break in the duties of Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański. The government calls it restoring the rule of law; the opposition and the Tribunal’s current leadership call it a coup. President Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip abroad.
What happened on Friday
On the afternoon of October 30, the Constitutional Tribunal’s website announced a break in the duties of Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska – one of the judges elected to the Tribunal by the current Sejm – took over running the court. She said she issued both orders herself and that the break is to last one month.
The legal basis cited was Article 130 of the Act on the System of Common Courts (applied to Tribunal judges through references in other laws) and, for her role as acting head, Article 12(4) of the 2016 act on the Tribunal’s organization. According to Judge Sławomir Patyra, the reasons included blocking the judges’ General Assembly and the adoption of the Tribunal’s 2027 budget plan, arbitrary case assignments, and not allowing judges elected in 2026 to hear cases.
The same day, Prosecutor General and Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek sent the Tribunal five motions to lift immunity: four concerning Bogdan Święczkowski and one concerning Bartłomiej Sochański.
Police secured the area outside the building on Szucha Avenue in Warsaw. According to a police statement, this followed a request from Judge Korwin-Piotrowska, who reported a possible threat to the life and health of judges and staff. Police said they did not enter the building. In the evening, Bogdan Święczkowski was not let into the Tribunal. A demonstration took place outside, attended by, among others, Jarosław Kaczyński and Mateusz Morawiecki; according to media reports, three people who climbed over the fence were detained.
President Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw in the evening. His office announced a meeting with Bogdan Święczkowski and Supreme Court First President Zbigniew Kapiński. Judge Korwin-Piotrowska invited the president to the Tribunal – but, as she stressed, alone, without those two officials.
Where the dispute comes from
The dispute over the Tribunal’s composition dates back to 2015, when the outgoing and the new parliamentary majorities elected different candidates for the same seats (the so-called “stand-in judges”). The current coalition believes that part of the Tribunal appointed during the Law and Justice (PiS) government was appointed in breach of the law.
On March 13, 2026, the current Sejm elected six judges to the 15-member Tribunal: Krystian Markiewicz, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, Maciej Taborowski, Magdalena Bentkowska, Marcin Dziurda and Dariusz Szostek. A 2016 law says an elected judge takes the oath before the president. President Nawrocki has not administered it, citing, among other things, procedural objections to how they were elected. Some of the judges later took the oath before Sejm Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty, but President Święczkowski did not allow them to hear cases.
PiS and the president hold that without an oath before the president there is no Tribunal judge. The ruling coalition argues that the oath is ceremonial and that election by the Sejm is binding.
What the sides say
Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote that restoring the rule of law is a duty, even if it is difficult – “There is no other way.” Minister Jan Grabiec argued that it was the presidents who violated the constitutional order by blocking judges’ oaths.
The Tribunal’s official account called the actions a “coup d’état” and said Anna Korwin-Piotrowska is not a Tribunal judge. Jarosław Kaczyński spoke of an attack on the Tribunal and urged the president to stop it. Zbigniew Ziobro and Karol Karski described the events as a coup, and Sławomir Mentzen called on the president to convene the National Security Council. Supreme Court First President Zbigniew Kapiński called the actions unprecedented in a democratic state.
Legal experts are divided. Prof. Marcin Matczak said there is no legal basis for removing the Tribunal’s president. Former Tribunal President Jerzy Stępień said there are formal grounds, but the matter requires analysis.
What comes next
According to media reports, the judges elected by the current Sejm plan to convene the Tribunal’s General Assembly on November 3, mainly to adopt the Tribunal’s budget. Any suspensions are to be decided by a disciplinary court. The situation is developing – Poland.us will report on further decisions.
As of October 30, 2026, 7:30 p.m. New York time (midnight in Poland).
Sources: rp.pl (live coverage, Oct. 30, 2026), Polsat News, RMF FM, Euronews, OKO.press.
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