Polish President Returns Mid-Flight as Constitutional Tribunal Leadership Dispute Turns Physical

Polish President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane around on Friday evening while en route to Senegal and returned to Warsaw after the Constitutional Tribunal announced the suspension of its president, Bogdan Święczkowski. The move deepened a years-long fight over who controls the court that can strike down laws.

Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the judges elected by the current parliament, ordered a one-month suspension of Święczkowski and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański. She said she assumed the role of acting head as the longest-serving judge on the bench. Święczkowski rejected the order and called the action a coup d'état. His deputy was turned away at the gates.

Riot police stood outside the tribunal building on Warsaw's Miodowa street. Protesters, including Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczyński, gathered after dark. Police reported that objects were thrown at officers and that three people were detained after climbing the fence. Officers did not enter the building itself.

Nawrocki, elected in 2025 with PiS backing, has refused to swear in several judges chosen by the parliamentary majority. Those judges took oaths in parliament instead. Święczkowski, a former deputy justice minister under the previous government, blocked them from sitting on cases. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said he had asked for their immunity to be lifted so prosecutors could bring charges, citing fifty volumes of files.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted that restoring the rule of law after years of PiS practices required decisive action. Tusk's coalition has refused to publish many tribunal rulings since taking office in 2023, pointing to European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights findings that three judges were improperly elected under the earlier majority. The Venice Commission has advised Nawrocki to seat the newer judges.

Inside the building early Saturday, Nawrocki confronted Korwin-Piotrowska. Video shared by Maciej Berek, a close aide to Tusk who recently took an oath as a tribunal judge, showed the president pushing past her at the entrance. Nawrocki told the group they were not tribunal judges. Berek said the president used force. Nawrocki later called the episode a violation of the constitutional order and scheduled urgent talks with parliamentary groups.

The tribunal's website posted that Święczkowski and Sochański remained the legal leaders. Korwin-Piotrowska issued further orders suspending registry functions and staff duties except for those she summoned, citing threats to personnel. No court has ruled on the validity of either set of documents. Jacek Chlebny, president of the Supreme Administrative Court, issued a statement but not a formal ruling.

The dispute has left the fifteen-member tribunal largely unable to function. Under PiS rule from 2015 to 2023 the court upheld a near-total abortion ban and challenged the primacy of EU law. Tusk's government has sought to reverse those changes but faced presidential vetoes from both Andrzej Duda and now Nawrocki. Lawyer Marcin Matczak, a longtime critic of the earlier reforms, said the suspension order lacked legal basis and risked setting back rule-of-law efforts for years.

PiS supporters outside waved Polish flags and accused Tusk of creating a police state. Kaczyński tried to force entry and demanded presidential intervention. On the other side, government allies argued the newer judges had a right to work and that Święczkowski had turned the court into a private domain. The European Union has tied recovery funds and other cooperation to progress on judicial independence.

Nawrocki had been heading to Dakar for the Summer Youth Olympic Games. His chief of staff confirmed he entered the tribunal after landing. The confrontation lasted into the early hours. Three people remained in detention as of Saturday morning. Police said they acted on warnings of threats to judges and staff.

The immediate result is a court with two competing claims to leadership and a building under police watch. Legislation that requires constitutional review sits in limbo. Both sides have called the other side's moves illegal. The next formal step is likely a court challenge to the suspension orders or further attempts by the government to seat its judges. Until one side gains clear control, the tribunal cannot reliably decide the legality of new laws or resolve conflicts between branches of government.