The announcement was published on the Constitutional Tribunal's website at around 6 pm local time. It stated that Tribunal President Bogdan Swieczkowski and Vice President Bartlomiej Sochanski had been suspended. The website went down shortly afterwards.
The decision was announced by another judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who said the move was necessary to restore the rule of law. As the Tribunal's longest-serving judge, she declared that she was now taking charge of the institution.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki was travelling to Senegal when the announcement emerged. He decided to turn his plane around and return to Poland, explaining his decision in a post on X.
"At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning," he wrote.
Riot police were deployed around the Constitutional Tribunal building as dozens of protesters gathered outside to demonstrate against what they described as the wrongful removal of the court's president by the current pro-European government. Some demonstrators chanted "Tusk traitor".
The Constitutional Tribunal's official X account described the developments as a "coup d'etat".
Early on Saturday, Nawrocki's chief of staff, Pawel Szefernaker, announced that the president had entered the court building alongside the First President of the Supreme Court, Zbigniew Kapinski.
"President Karol Nawrocki, accompanied by the First President of the Supreme Court, Zbigniew Kapinski, entered the Constitutional Tribunal building," Szefernaker wrote on X.
The developments also prompted Poland's Ambassador to China, Jakub Kumoch, to resign. In a post on X, he announced that he had submitted his resignation and requested his recall.
"In light of the events in the country, I have concluded that it is no longer possible for me to continue serving as the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland. As of today, I have submitted my resignation and a request for recall," Kumoch wrote.
Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, who was in the United States for the G20 Summit, responded to the ambassador's announcement on X.
"I acknowledge the unprofessional conclusion of your mission. You no longer represent the Republic," Sikorski wrote.
Poland's highest judicial institutions, including the Constitutional Tribunal, have long been at the centre of a political dispute between the government and the main opposition party, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), which governed the country from 2015 to 2023.
Critics in Poland and the European Union have accused PiS of imposing political control over key judicial institutions, including the Constitutional Tribunal. Its judicial reforms prompted the EU to impose fines on Poland. The Tribunal frequently ruled in favour of Polish legislation over EU law, while the European Union accused it of being too closely aligned with the nationalist political establishment at the time.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European government came to power in 2023, promising to restore judicial independence. However, two successive presidents aligned with PiS, including Nawrocki, have vetoed its efforts to implement the proposed changes.
Tusk's government has been attempting for weeks to remove judges appointed during PiS's tenure. Swieczkowski became president of the Constitutional Tribunal under the previous government. Tusk has accused him of preventing judges selected by the parliamentary majority from assuming their positions.
Defending his government's approach, Tusk wrote on X on Friday evening: "Restoring the rule of law is our obligation. After years of lawlessness under PiS, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way."
Speaking at Campus Polska in August, Tusk said his government had a plan to restore the Tribunal's functioning by appointing judges lawfully. He acknowledged that the methods being pursued might not be acceptable to everyone.
PiS politicians, who constitute the largest opposition force, strongly criticised the suspension of the Tribunal's leadership. Former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro condemned the move in a post on X on Friday evening.
"This is a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order. That is why I call for resistance that will be loud, firm, solidary and fearless," Ziobro wrote.
The suspension of the Constitutional Tribunal's president and vice president has intensified Poland's longstanding dispute over judicial independence, bringing the country's government, opposition, presidency and judicial institutions into direct confrontation.
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