Poland's government suspends constitutional court president amid judicial reform dispute

Poland's government suspended the head of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bogdan Swieczkowski, in late October 2026. Prime Minister Donald Tusk says the tribunal is not independent, and European courts agree. His government has also stopped publishing the tribunal's rulings for this reason.

Hundreds of people protested on several nights against the suspension. Police arrested three people after some protesters climbed the tribunal's fence and threw objects at officers. President Karol Nawrocki, who is close to the opposition PiS party, supported the protests and called for Swieczkowski's return.

The tribunal called the suspension a "coup d'etat." Nawrocki has also refused to swear in five new tribunal judges that parliament chose earlier this year.