Poland's president turned back from a state visit to Senegal on Friday after the leadership of the country's Constitutional Tribunal was suspended, deepening a long-running dispute over control of the court. President Karol Nawrocki, who was already travelling when the news broke, said he was cutting short his flight and returning to Poland. Police secured the tribunal building in Warsaw as protesters gathered outside, and police said three people were detained after some demonstrators breached the fence and threw objects at officers.

The suspension was announced on the court's website on the evening of 30 October. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice President Bartłomiej Sochański for one month, saying the move was needed to restore the rule of law. The tribunal's leadership rejected the orders, stating that Święczkowski remained president and Sochański remained vice president. The court's website went offline shortly after the announcement, and the Associated Press reported it could not independently verify the official reasons given for the suspension.

A dispute rooted in rival judicial appointments

The row predates Friday. Tusk's government, in office since 2023, has promised to restore judicial independence, while Law and Justice has defended the tribunal's previous leadership. At its heart are judges chosen by the parliamentary majority whom Nawrocki declined to swear in, and whom Święczkowski then prevented from taking up duties. Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, at the G20 meeting in Atlanta, argued action was needed because the outgoing leadership had stopped the tribunal working. Early on Saturday, Nawrocki entered the court building with the Supreme Court's first president.