It began its work in 1917 during the First World War as the Royal Imperial Supreme Court (Polish: Królewsko-Cesarski Sąd Najwyższy).

After Poland gained full independence in 1918, the Supreme Court was reformed by decree of 8 February 1919 and many judges who were considered to be loyal to the emperor were dismissed.

After the Second World War, the Supreme Court was reinstated with new judges who were now in line with the Soviet leadership.

[4][5] At the turn of 1989 the Supreme Court was dissolved and re-established, but for the most part with the old judges from the communist era.

[7] In 2017 the Polish government passed a law which would have forced all Supreme Court judges into mandatory retirement apart from those granted an extension by the Minister of Justice.

Polish opposition parties, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Polish Supreme Court, and the National Council of the Judiciary have claimed the law is unconstitutional because it violates the principles of the independence of the judiciary.

On 17 December 2018, President Duda signed a law that will reinstate the judges who had been forced out of their jobs.

As a result, the Court granted "the Commission’s application for interim measures" which will likely be realised with monetary fines.

[33] From 1945 to 1950 the Supreme Court met in Łódź due to the destruction of Warsaw in the Second World War.