BRATISLAVA, August 13, (WEBNOVINY) — President of the Supreme Court and former Justice Minister Stefan Harabin is ready to lift the vow of confidentiality of judges upon request of law enforcement authorities. He writes this in response to a lawsuit against four judges filed by Jan Vovcik. The daily HOSPODARSKE NOVINY reported on Monday that he has accused four judges of the Supreme Court of corruption. SITA received a response from Harabin through the press and information section of the Supreme Court.
„On the initiative of the notifier, the President of the Supreme Court Harabin has asked all the involved judges for their position, not just the head of the panel of judges,“ the statement said. The statement maintains that Harabin had previously advocated the opinion within anti-corruption measures to allow changes in the composition of judge panels. „The situation here is very difficult with regard to statutory powers of the president, because only by changes in the work schedule [of judges] can the court president change something,“ he claims. Specifically for such steps, he declared, „the anti-corruption Justice Minister of Dzurinda’s government launched disciplinary proceedings against him.“ According to his statement, Harabin supports clarifying each suspicion, because only an independent investigation can confirm or refute the information.
Former businessman Jan Vovcik from Bela nad Cirochou in eastern Slovakia suspects that a ruling in his case at the Supreme Court was bought by the counterparty for SKK 7 million, or about 233,000 euros, writes HOSPODARSKE NOVINY. He confirmed with the daily that he filed a complaint with the police against four judges of the commercial law panel at the Supreme Court. According to Vovcik, the judges were bribed in April, when the panel was deciding about a special appeal against a verdict in his lawsuit. In two lawsuits since 2006, he was seeking the right to dividends totaling SKK 22.8 million (757,000 euros) from two of statutory representatives of a company that privatized a state farm in Stakcin. He is a minority shareholder in the joint stock company, writes the daily.
HOSPODARSKE NOVINY reports that Vovcik is aware that if the judges are not proven guilty, he can be prosecuted for making false accusations. He has not filed a complaint in the matter, but directly against concrete judges. According to Vovcik, judges at the Supreme Court are suspected of extensive criminal activity. He claims that the counterparty has bought a favorable verdict through a lawyer who knows the head of the panel. „The head of the panel was the mediator. He gave the judges in the panel half a million and shared the remaining four million with the lawyer,“ Vovcik told the daily. He claims to have three or four witnesses who have information about this bribe. He did not disclose their names. Their willingness to testify, according to Vovcik, will depend on who will investigate the case. „If it is local police, then probably not,“ the daily cited him.
In addition the police, Vovcik also turned to Harabin asking him to start disciplinary proceedings against the judges. He claims that the court file was intentionally manipulated. Harabin has passed on the motion to the Ministry of Justice, so that it would not be possible to accuse him of false judicial solidarity. „It is not possible to have simultaneous criminal and disciplinary proceedings. Criminal prosecution has preference,“ Harabin told media. According to the daily, the Ministry of Justice responded in its statement that they trust the law enforcement authorities that they would act in accordance with the law.
SITA