Poland’s confrontation over its Constitutional Tribunal has intensified following a disputed attempt to suspend the court’s leadership, police deployment around its headquarters and accusations of a coup. A judges’ assembly scheduled for 3 November now represents the next test of authority inside an institution whose legitimacy remains sharply contested.

The immediate crisis began on 30 October, when Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced a month-long interruption of the official duties of tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski and vice-president Bartłomiej Sochański. She then assumed responsibility for directing the institution’s work. The measures invoked Article 130 of the law governing ordinary courts, but their application to the tribunal and the authority to issue them are disputed. Sochański described the intervention as a coup and rejected its legal basis. rp.pl

Warsaw police said they had received correspondence from the prosecutor general and a tribunal judge concerning security risks. Their explanation presented the deployment as a response to possible threats to judges and employees and disturbances around the premises. That account establishes the police’s stated justification; it does not settle the constitutional dispute over the change in leadership. Aktualności Komenda Stołeczna Policji

President Karol Nawrocki interrupted a flight to Senegal and returned to Warsaw, accusing Prime Minister Donald Tusk of a forced takeover. Tusk subsequently said the tribunal should function independently and in accordance with the constitution, describing the executive’s responsibility as ensuring its security and working conditions. Reuters

The disagreement extends beyond party politics. In a statement dated 31 October, the president of the Supreme Administrative Court expressed serious objections to the events, including the prevention of the tribunal’s president and vice-president from entering. He argued that restoring institutional credibility required a political compromise within constitutional limits and said those limits had been crossed. Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny

Four former tribunal presidents—Marek Safjan, Jerzy Stępień, Bohdan Zdziennicki and Andrzej Zoll—offered a different assessment. They supported the actions of the newly elected judges as necessary to restore the institution’s functioning and called for legally prescribed procedures to proceed. Euronews

The dispute also involves criminal proceedings. Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek submitted five applications seeking permission to prosecute the tribunal’s leaders: four concerning Święczkowski and one concerning Sochański. These applications do not establish guilt. rp.pl

The planned assembly is expected to address the tribunal’s budget and issues surrounding immunity. Its decisions may themselves face challenges over authority and composition. The verified picture is therefore a profound constitutional confrontation; describing it as a coup remains an accusation advanced by participants, rather than an established judicial finding.