BRATISLAVA, December 21, (WEBNOVINY) — The Ministry of Justice is not planning to wait and see how the Supreme Court and other subjects will or will not behave sued by the judges in the so-called discrimination lawsuits. The department of justice entered the case as an auxiliary defendant where eleven judges are suing the Supreme Court. The Justice Ministry is considering doing the same in other cases where the judges sued courts, not the Justice Ministry, the department’s spokesman Peter Bubla told SITA news agency.
The ministry is representing the Slovak Republic and has a legal interest on the result of the outcome of the proceedings, therefore it has the duty to take this action in the interest of active defense of interests of the Slovak Republic in lawsuits which could cost the taxpayers tens of millions of euro. “We will not wait when and whether the Supreme Court will use the legal means available, including an appeal to the court, to protect the interests of the state and its citizens. Unlike the former administration, we are determined to fight the organized misuse of the judiciary system,” State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Maria Kolikova said, adding that the misuse the judiciary system is “at the expense of common people.”
The Ministry of Justice says that the lawsuits have no legal basis. What makes the entire situation even more absurd is the fact that prejudiced judges decide on the charges. They themselves have also filed discrimination lawsuits and they know that if they decide in favor of their colleagues, their chances on financial benefit will increase as well. “Every single one of the judges could have ran for the position at the Special Court, which is connected to many duties and restrictions. Yet they did not do so. Even the Constitutional Court de facto agreed that the Specialized Court is in a different situation and only adjusted the salary bonuses of its judges. It did not cancel the court,” added Kolikova regarding the discrimination lawsuits of hundreds of judges, who claim they feel discriminated against by being paid lower salaries than their colleagues at the Special Penal Court, established to combat high-profile corruption and organized crime.
SITA
