Polish police deployed to top court after head judge suspended

Judge’s suspension is part of a long dispute over politicisation of the Constitutional Tribunal under former government.

Suspended Constitutional Tribunal president Bogdan Swieczkowski speaks with a megaphone as protesters gather outside the headquarters of Poland's Constitutional Court building in Warsaw on October 30, 2026 [Wojtek RADWANSKI/AFP] (AFP)

Polish police have been deployed outside the country’s top court after demonstrators gathered to protest the suspension of its head judge.

Police said on Friday they entered the premises of the Constitutional Tribunal after incidents outside the court, including objects being thrown at police.

list 1 of 3 Three injured in third school attack in Poland in less than a week

list 2 of 3 Polish police probe alleged plot to assassinate PM Tusk, defence minister

list 3 of 3 Thousands protest across Poland for access to free and legal abortions

Protesters descended on the Warsaw court after it announced on Friday that its head, Bogdan Swieczkowski, had been suspended.

His suspension is related to a long-running dispute that has effectively paralysed the court.

Over the past six months, Swieczkowski used his power as head of the court to block judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from assuming their court duties.

Minister of Justice Waldemar Zurek told reporters on Friday that he had requested that Swieczkowski and his deputy’s immunity be lifted for failing to fulfil their duties by preventing judges from performing their work.

Swieczkowski was appointed to his position by Poland’s former nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) government, which critics have accused of politicising the country’s courts.

Restoring the rule of law ⁠is the government’s duty, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X following the news of Swieczkowski’s suspension.

“After years ⁠of lawlessness under PiS, this process ⁠is difficult, at times even painful, and requires decisive action. There is no other way,” said Tusk, leader of the Civic Coalition party.

News of Swieczkowski’s suspension brought crowds of PiS supporters to the gates of the Constitutional Tribunal. Police said they detained three people after some in the crowd launched “dangerous projectiles”.

Also on Friday, PiS-allied Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced he was turning his plane around while on the way to a sporting event in Senegal, saying: “At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland”.

Since his election in mid-2025, Nawrocki has refused to swear in three ⁠of six judges nominated by the Polish parliament.

Police officers stand behind a fence as protesters gather outside the headquarters of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on October 30, 2026 [Wojtek Radwanski/AFP]

Politicised judiciary

Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal has long been a point of serious political contention, with critics in Poland and across the European Union accusing PiS, which led the country from 2015 to 2023, of imposing political control over the court by electing judges friendly to the party and its policies.

When Poland’s pro-European government came to power, it promised to restore the independence of the judiciary. However, two attempts to do so have been vetoed by two PiS-aligned presidents – one of them Nawrocki.

Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the judges Nawrocki refused to swear in on the grounds of alleged flaws in her selection procedure, has now been placed in charge of the Constitutional Tribunal.

Politicians from PiS, currently Poland’s largest opposition force, have criticised Swieczkowski’s suspension.

“This is a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order,” former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X Friday.

法官被停职是前政府时期宪法法院政治化长期争议的一部分。

2026年10月30日，在波兰华沙宪法法院总部大楼外，被停职的宪法法院院长博格丹·斯维茨科夫斯基用扩音器向聚集的抗议者发表讲话。[Wojtek RADWANSKI/AFP] (法新社)

波兰警方已在最高法院外部署警力，此前示威者聚集抗议首席法官被停职。

警方周五表示，在法院外发生包括向警察投掷物品在内的事件后，他们进入了宪法法院大楼。

列表 1/3：波兰一周内发生第三起校园袭击事件，三人受伤

波兰警方调查涉嫌刺杀总理图斯克和国防部长的阴谋（共3项，此为第2项）

列表 3/3：波兰各地数千人抗议，要求获得免费合法堕胎服务

华沙法院周五宣布其院长博格丹·斯维茨科夫斯基已被停职后，抗议者涌向了法院。

他的停职与一场旷日持久的纠纷有关，这场纠纷实际上已经使法院陷入瘫痪。

在过去的六个月里，斯维茨科夫斯基利用其作为法院院长的权力，阻止由现任议会多数派选举产生的法官履行其法院职责。

司法部长瓦尔德马尔·祖雷克周五告诉记者，他已要求取消斯维茨科夫斯基及其副手的豁免权，因为他们未能履行职责，阻止法官履行职责。

斯维茨科夫斯基是由波兰前民族主义法律与公正党（PiS）政府任命的，批评人士指责该党将波兰法院政治化。

在得知斯维茨科夫斯基被停职的消息后，总理唐纳德·图斯克在X电视台表示，恢复法治是政府的职责。

“在法律与公正党（PiS）执政多年，社会秩序混乱不堪之后，这一进程十分艰难，有时甚至令人痛苦，需要采取果断行动。别无他法，”公民联盟党领导人图斯克说道。

斯维茨科夫斯基被停职的消息传出后，大批法律与公正党（PiS）的支持者聚集在宪法法院门口。警方称，人群中有人投掷“危险物品”，随后警方拘留了三人。

同样在周五，与执政党法律与公正党结盟的波兰总统卡罗尔·纳沃茨基宣布，他将在前往塞内加尔参加体育赛事的途中调转飞机返回波兰，并表示：“在这样的时刻，总统必须留在波兰。”

自 2025 年年中当选以来，纳沃茨基拒绝为波兰议会提名的六名法官中的三名举行宣誓就职仪式。

2026年10月30日，在华沙波兰宪法法院总部外，警察站在围栏后，抗议者聚集在那里。[Wojtek Radwanski/AFP]

司法政治化

波兰宪法法院长期以来一直是政治争论的焦点，波兰和整个欧盟的批评人士指责在 2015 年至 2023 年执政的法律与公正党 (PiS) 通过选举对该党及其政策友好的法官来对法院施加政治控制。

波兰亲欧政府上台后承诺恢复司法独立。然而，两次恢复司法独立的尝试均遭到与法律与公正党结盟的两任总统否决——其中一位就是纳沃茨基。

安娜·科尔温-皮奥特罗夫斯卡是纳沃茨基因遴选程序存在所谓缺陷而拒绝为其宣誓就职的法官之一，现在她已被任命为宪法法院院长。

目前波兰最大的反对党法律与公正党(PiS)的政治家们批评了对斯维茨科夫斯基的停职处分。

“这是对宪法秩序的公然犯罪攻击，”前司法部长兹比格涅夫·齐奥布罗周五在X上写道。