Poland reports suspension of Constitutional Tribunal leadership — NDTV

A notice announcing the suspension of Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański appeared on the website of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal at around 18:00 on October 30. As NDTV World reports, the website stopped working shortly after the publication.

Anna Korwin-Piotrowska stated that this step was necessary to restore the rule of law. She also said that, as the judge with the longest tenure, she now heads the tribunal.

President interrupts trip

Polish President Karol Nawrocki was flying to Senegal when the notice appeared. He interrupted the trip and wrote on X that under such circumstances, the president must be in Poland.

The following morning, head of the presidential administration Paweł Szefernaker wrote on X that Nawrocki, together with First President of the Supreme Court Zbigniew Kapiński, entered the Constitutional Tribunal building.

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Protests and conflicting statements

Police blocked access near the tribunal building in Warsaw, while dozens of people gathered for a protest. Some participants opposed Święczkowski’s removal and chanted slogans against Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The Constitutional Tribunal’s official X account called the events a coup d’état and said that the institution’s website had been unlawfully seized. The post also claimed that Święczkowski and Sochański remain the tribunal’s president and vice president, while Korwin-Piotrowska is not one of its judges.

Poland’s ambassador to China, Jakub Kumoch, announced that he had submitted his resignation and requested to be recalled from his post because of the events in the country. Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski responded that the diplomat no longer represents Poland.

The Constitutional Tribunal has long been a point of confrontation between Tusk’s government and the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), which was in power from 2015 to 2023. Tusk’s government says it intends to restore the independence of the judicial system, while PiS representatives criticized the reports of the tribunal leadership’s suspension.