Overview
- A notice posted to the tribunal's website on Friday said President Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy were suspended and named Anna Korwin‑Piotrowska as interim head, a claim the court later repudiated on its official X account as an illegal takeover of its site.
- President Karol Nawrocki cut short a foreign trip and returned to Warsaw that night, entered the sealed court building, spoke to demonstrators and convened urgent parliamentary consultations while a newly nominated judge posted video alleging he used force to gain entry.
- Police said they secured the tribunal after demonstrators tried to breach the grounds, arrested three people for entering the site and reported objects thrown at officers, while officials stressed officers did not remain inside the building.
- Two Polish ambassadors resigned in protest over the events, and Korwin‑Piotrowska has set a full court session for 3 November as rival claims about who leads the court remain unresolved.
- The confrontation builds on a years‑long fight over PiS‑era appointments that EU courts found compromised the tribunal's independence and on the Tusk government's push to install parliament‑nominated judges, a dispute that could reshape Poland's legal standing in the EU and influence next year's elections.