31 Oct 2026
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Police deployed outside Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal amid leadership stand-off

Polish police said officers remained outside the Constitutional Tribunal as a dispute over its leadership escalated. Three people were detained after crossing the fence, according to their statement.

Collage using the supplied police photograph with Warsaw court drawings
EPA/Shutterstock via BBC — editorial photo collage

Police were deployed outside Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on 30 October as a dispute over its leadership intensified. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek sought the removal of immunity from President Bogdan Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański so they could face prosecution, according to reporting from Warsaw.

Police describe an external deployment

In their statement, Warsaw police said requests concerning security around the tribunal had prompted the operation. They stressed that officers were outside the building and that their role was to maintain safety and public order.

Police reported detaining three people who crossed the fence. That statement describes detentions and further proceedings, rather than a conviction.

Competing claims over the court

The tribunal rejected the attempted leadership change and characterised the action as a coup, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk defended the process as restoring the rule of law. Those are opposing positions, not a settled legal finding.

President Karol Nawrocki cancelled a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska was placed in temporary charge amid the confrontation, according to the same reporting. The authority and legality of the leadership change remain disputed.

Police behind a fence at the confrontation in Warsaw
Photograph supplied with the BBC report; credited EPA/Shutterstock. The image does not establish the legal merits of either side’s position.

Sources

  1. Warsaw Metropolitan Police: statement on police operations,30October2026