Poland’s president turned his plane around mid-flight on Friday and returned to Warsaw as a dispute over the leadership of the country’s Constitutional Tribunal escalated into street protests and a police deployment outside the court.
President Karol Nawrocki had been travelling to Senegal for a state visit when news broke that the Tribunal’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski, had been suspended. “At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” Nawrocki wrote on X. He landed in Warsaw late on Friday and headed to the presidential palace for talks.
The suspension was announced on the Tribunal’s website on Friday evening. Its longest-serving judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, said she had suspended Święczkowski and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, for one month and had taken charge of the court. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said prosecutors had sought the lifting of both men’s immunity, accusing them of preventing judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from taking up their posts.
The move was immediately contested. A statement on the Tribunal’s account on X said its website had been unlawfully seized, insisted that Święczkowski remained president, and accused those involved of attempting a coup. Opposition politicians from Law and Justice (PiS) echoed that charge, with former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro calling the suspension “a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order” and calling for resistance.
Police secured the Tribunal building in Warsaw as dozens of protesters gathered outside. Police said three people were detained after some demonstrators breached the fence around the grounds and others threw objects at officers. The Associated Press reported it could not independently verify the official reasons given for the suspension after the Tribunal’s website went down shortly after the notice appeared.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk defended the move as part of his government’s effort to restore the rule of law. “Restoring the rule of law is our obligation,” he wrote on X. “After years of lawlessness under PiS this is a difficult process, sometimes painful and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.” His pro-European coalition came to power in 2023 promising to restore judicial independence, but its efforts have been blocked by presidential vetoes from two successive PiS-aligned presidents, including Nawrocki.
The dispute is the latest chapter in a conflict that dates back to 2015, when PiS, then in government, sought to appoint judges to seats already filled by the previous government. Critics in Poland and the European Union accused PiS of imposing political control over key judicial institutions, and the EU imposed fines on Poland. The Tribunal has since been effectively paralysed, with the government and the president refusing to recognise judicial appointments made by the other side.
Earlier this year Nawrocki refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament, while Święczkowski declined to allow judges elected by the current majority to assume their duties. Whether Friday’s suspension breaks that deadlock or deepens it remains unclear: both sides now claim to speak for the court, and the legitimacy of the suspension itself is contested.
Sources: Reuters, “Polish president turns back from Senegal trip as top court chief suspended”, 30 October 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/polish-president-turns-back-senegal-trip-top-court-chief-suspended-2026-10-30/; CNN, “Polish president turns plane around to return home as court chief’s suspension sparks protest”, 31 October 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/31/europe/poland-protests-president-karol-nawrocki-flies-home-hnk-intl?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_meta
