A survey conducted for Wirtualna Polska has found that nearly one in three Poles cannot say who formally heads the Constitutional Tribunal, with respondents split along political lines over the leadership of the country's top constitutional court. According to WP Wiadomości, the United Surveys by IBRiS poll asked people to identify who currently serves as the tribunal's president. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska drew the most responses at 40.3 percent, followed by those with no clear answer at 32.2 percent and Bogdan Święczkowski at 24.2 percent.
The remaining responses were scattered: 2.4 percent chose "someone else," Krystyna Pawłowicz was named by 0.6 percent and Julia Przyłębska by 0.3 percent. The survey was carried out on 2 November 2026 by computer-assisted telephone interviews on a representative sample of 1,000 Polish adults, with an estimated margin of error of 3 percentage points, WP Wiadomości reports.
Why it matters
The results reflect an unresolved legal dispute over who exercises authority at the tribunal, an institution that rules on the conformity of laws with the constitution. When a substantial share of the public cannot identify its presiding officer, that is a signal that the conflict has spilled out of courtrooms and legal commentary into everyday public confusion. The poll also shows that the disagreement is not merely procedural: answers track party allegiance closely, suggesting that perceptions of the tribunal's leadership have become a marker of political identity.
Two competing claims to the presidency
The confusion has a concrete origin. According to WP Wiadomości, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska issued an order suspending the tribunal's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, from his official duties. She based the move on provisions governing the organization of common courts and on her own seniority as a judge.
Święczkowski, a group of judges supporting him and opposition politicians reject the suspension outright. They describe it as unlawful and characterize the actions of the judges associated with the new parliamentary majority as a seizure of a constitutional body. The upshot, as WP Wiadomości frames it, is that two mutually exclusive accounts of who runs the tribunal now circulate publicly — and that duality appears to be feeding the uncertainty captured in the survey.
How the answers break down by electorate
The aggregate figures conceal sharply divergent views among different groups of voters.
Among supporters of the governing coalition — Civic Coalition, the Left, the Polish People's Party and Poland 2050 — 74 percent said Korwin-Piotrowska leads the tribunal. Only 1 percent in this group named Święczkowski, while 24 percent said they did not know or found the question hard to answer. A further 1 percent chose "someone else," and neither Pawłowicz nor Przyłębska received any support here.
The picture reverses among opposition voters — those backing Law and Justice, Confederation, KKP, Rozwój Plus and Razem. In this group, 40 percent named Święczkowski as the person in charge, 20 percent chose Korwin-Piotrowska and 35 percent had no definite answer. Four percent selected "someone else" and 1 percent named Pawłowicz; Przyłębska again drew no responses.
Among the remaining respondents — people who are undecided or do not vote — 41 percent pointed to Korwin-Piotrowska, 39 percent could not name anyone and 19 percent said Święczkowski. One percent named Przyłębska, while Pawłowicz and "someone else" each received no support.
A wider debate over the tribunal's future
The leadership dispute is unfolding alongside proposals to overhaul how the tribunal is composed. WP Wiadomości's summary of related coverage notes that one plan, attributed to Sochański, envisages a reset of the tribunal through resignations of judges and the selection of members by a two-thirds majority. Another proposal, described by Dziennik.pl, would see all current tribunal judges lose their posts, with new rules for choosing judges and shorter terms intended to depoliticize the institution; that proposal has already been submitted to the Senate.
These are proposals reported by other outlets and summarized alongside the poll; they have not been adopted, and the survey did not test public opinion on them.
What to watch
The poll offers a snapshot of public understanding rather than a legal ruling, and it does not settle which of the two competing claims to the presidency prevails. What it does show is that the dispute has produced a public that is both divided and, in roughly a third of cases, unsure. Whether the standoff at the tribunal is resolved through the courts, through legislation or through the Senate proposals now on the table will determine whether that uncertainty persists.
