New Delhi: Poland’s long-running dispute over judicial appointments escalated into a confrontation Friday, after a group of judges moved to suspend the president of the Constitutional Tribunal, prompting protests, a police deployment and a political and constitutional standoff.
The Constitutional Tribunal rules on whether laws passed by parliament comply with Poland’s Constitution, giving it significant influence over the government’s legislative agenda.
Its composition has become a central point of contention between Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition and the nationalist right, including the Law and Justice party, known as PiS, over who has the authority to run Poland’s highest constitutional court.
Statement by the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki pic.twitter.com/dzdHoFnw0E
— Kancelaria Prezydenta RP (@prezydentpl) October 31, 2026
The dispute dates back to 2015, when competing appointments by an outgoing centrist government and the incoming PiS administration triggered a battle over the Tribunal’s composition. The conflict later became part of a broader confrontation between Poland and the European Union over judicial independence and the rule of law.
During its eight years in power from 2015 to 2023, PiS introduced judicial reforms that reports said weakened the independence of the courts and increased political influence over the judiciary. These included a ban on abortion and also challenged the legality of EU laws, Politico reported.
The European Union earlier accused Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal of being too closely aligned with the nationalist government.
Tusk, who returned to power in 2023, pledged to reverse the contested reforms and restore relations with Brussels. But his efforts have faced resistance from Karol Nawrocki, a PiS ally who became the President in 2025 and has used his constitutional powers to block changes proposed by the government.
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The trigger
The latest confrontation began Friday when seven judges elected by the current parliamentary majority entered the Tribunal’s headquarters in Warsaw. They have been at the centre of a dispute over their appointments, after Nawrocki refused to swear in five of them.
In the second week of October, the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters, said Nawrocki’s refusal should not prevent the five judges from taking up their posts.
They took their oaths in parliament instead, but Bogdan Święczkowski, the current president of the Constitutional Tribunal and a former justice minister under PiS, barred them from hearing cases.
Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the five judges, Friday announced that she was assuming the Tribunal’s leadership, citing her seniority in the judiciary. She accused the existing leadership of preventing the newly elected judges from taking up their positions and moved to suspend the Tribunal’s president and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański.
Both judges were reportedly denied entry to the building. Police surrounded the building as the dispute intensified, while protesters gathered outside and clashed with officers.
Nawrocki then cut short his visit to Senegal and returned to Warsaw. In a statement read outside the Tribunal Saturday morning, the President accused the government of violating the constitutional order and forcibly taking control of a state institution.
“Tonight, there has been a breach of the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland and a forcible takeover of a constitutional organ of the state,” the statement said.
He called on security forces to leave the Tribunal’s premises and announced plans for emergency talks with representatives of political parties in parliament.
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński described the suspension of the Tribunal’s leadership as an “assault” on the court and urged supporters to continue protesting. He warned that Poland risked becoming a police state.
Tusk, however, remained resolute. “Restoring the rule of law is our duty,” he wrote on X. “After years of PiS lawlessness, it’s a difficult, sometimes painful process that requires decisive action. There is no other way.”
Korwin-Piotrowska has now called a general assembly of judges on 3 November.
Amid all of this, Poland Ambassador to China Jakub Kumoch resigned from his post on X. “In light of the events in the country, I have concluded that it is no longer possible for me to continue serving as the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland. As of today, I have submitted my resignation and a request for recall,” he wrote.
Wobec wydarzeń w kraju uznałem, że nie jest możliwe moje dalsze pełnienie funkcji ambasadora RP. Z dniem dzisiejszym złożyłem rezygnację i prośbę o odwołanie.
— Jakub Kumoch 古天卫 (@JakubKumoch) October 30, 2026
Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski responded saying the diplomat no longer represented the country and called it an ‘unprofessional end’.
US envoy Tom Rose urged for calm in a post on X, saying what’s happening in Poland is a “dangerous situation.”
“We appear to be witnessing an unprecedented confrontation over the government’s use of state power and the independence and authority of a constitutional institution,” he wrote.
The events unfolding tonight at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal are very serious indeed. We appear to be witnessing an unprecedented confrontation over the government’s use of state power and the independence and authority of a constitutional institution.
Both sides offer…
— Ambassador Tom Rose (@USAmbPoland) October 30, 2026
The last thing Poland, he said, needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse. “America is on Poland’s side. It is not our place to judge or interfere in its internal affairs. Our concern is for the stability, security, and democratic future of a country we are proud to call our friend and ally.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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