Polish Constitutional Tribunal Chief Suspended

What happened

Updated Oct 30, 9:11pm ET

Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal president, Bogdan Święczkowski, was suspended, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced. President Karol Nawrocki returned from Senegal amid the suspension dispute, saying the president needed to be in Poland. The court’s website reflected the change. The Constitutional Tribunal reviews whether laws comply with Poland’s constitution, but a long fight over its judges has effectively paralyzed it. Święczkowski, appointed under PiS, has blocked judges elected by the current majority, while Nawrocki has refused to swear in some nominees. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the move was needed to restore rule of law. The tribunal’s account called it a coup. Control remains contested.

How the left told it

Only one left-leaning outlet we track covered this: Al Jazeera, under the headline “Polish police deployed to top court after head judge suspended”.

How the right told it

Right-leaning outlets cast the clash as a fight over legitimacy, stressing claims that Tusk’s side overreached. RedState framed it as Tusk seizing the top court in an attempted coup. Fox News foregrounded the broader legitimacy fight, citing critics who say PiS politicized judicial bodies while conservatives challenged Tusk’s methods.