In brief
On October 31, 2026, a surge of opposition supporters gathered outside Warsaw’s Constitutional Tribunal, confronting police after the court’s president was suspended. The unrest follows months of contention over Poland’s judicial appointments, with the ruling coalition and the Law and Justice party at odds over who may install judges. The outcome of the tribunal’s leadership dispute remains unresolved.
On Friday night, October 31, 2026, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Warsaw’s Constitutional Tribunal and clashed with riot police after the court’s president was suspended amid a dispute between Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government and the opposition over control of the judiciary.
The protest drew supporters of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, including PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who were present near the tribunal’s gates. Riot police were deployed to the grounds as demonstrators threw objects at officers and breached a perimeter fence. Police detained three protesters who entered the court building, and local media reported several injuries among both protesters and police.
Underlying the clashes is a long‑standing battle over judicial appointments. Parliament, controlled by Tusk’s coalition, elected eight judges to the tribunal this year. President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of PiS, accepted the oaths of office from only three of those judges, while the remaining five took their oaths at parliamentary ceremonies. Nawrocki and the tribunal’s leadership refused to recognize the status of the five judges, preventing them from performing judicial duties.
In the early hours of Friday evening, the tribunal’s website announced that its president and vice‑president had been suspended for one month. A newly elected judge, whose status remains disputed, assumed temporary leadership of the tribunal. The suspension triggered a sharp reaction from the tribunal’s own leadership, which described the move as an illegal coup. In retaliation for the revoked leadership, President Nawrocki cut short a foreign trip to Senegal, returned to Poland, and held an emergency meeting with judicial officials on Friday night. He later visited the Constitutional Tribunal and entered the court building.
During the protest, police reported that three individuals were detained for entering the court premises. Several demonstrators reportedly suffered injuries from clashes with police, and police traffic reports indicate that riot police remained on the scene throughout the night. Both sides maintained that their actions were a response to the other’s perceived overreach, with the tribunal leadership insisting that the suspension was not lawful and the government’s action as necessary to restore judicial stability.
While the police input and the tribunal’s internal statements are clear, the broader legal status of the suspended officials and the five judges who have not been recognized remain unresolved. No court decision has yet confirmed who may legitimately occupy the tribunal positions, and whether the protestors’ demands will be satisfied or met with further governmental intervention is still undetermined.
