BRATISLAVA, February 1, (WEBNOVINY) — The Slovak Parliament has repeatedly approved the amendment to the law on judges and lay-judges, which introduces the duty to publish court verdicts on the Internet, public selection procedures for judges and presidents of courts, public judicial exams and abolishing bonuses for judges. With this amendment, the ruling coalition wants to make the judiciary more open to control of the public. The bill was originally adopted in December, but the President had vetoed it.
The amendment will introduce the obligation of the Constitutional Court and of common courts to make all valid decisions available on the Internet; some other decisions will be available upon request. Judges will only be chosen through an open selection procedure, which will be open to everyone fulfilling the legal criteria: both judges and non-judges. The institute of judicial candidates will be abolished. They could choose to become higher judicial officers or leave the judiciary. Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska says that openness of the judiciary is the best and least political form of control, as the public is not controlled by any political party. The contests for new judges will be public, together with the applications for the offices and their CVs and the names of members of the committees selecting the judges.
The adopted amendment also introduces new way of forming the committees. One of the candidates will be a nominee of the Judicial Council, one will be nominated by Parliament, two by the Justice Minister and one by the court in question. The law prefers academics and people working in the non-governmental sector to become members of the committees, it however also counts with people from law professions, such as judges or advocates. Presidents of courts will be chosen in a similar way.
The bill should also prevent harassment at work, as the judge may be assigned to another agenda only on the basis of his approval, or after approval of the council of judges. The ministry decided to drop from the bill the ban for people in high offices, such as the President or parliamentary deputies, who were originally supposed to not be eligible to become judges for five years after leaving their previous office. According to the approved amendment, they will be eligible to becoming a judge, but not the chairman or vice-chairmen of a court. Cases, when a Justice Minister suddenly becomes the President of the Supreme Court, would thus be prevented. Judges will also have to submit a detailed declaration of assets, which will be published on a yearly basis.
The SMER-SD MP and shadow Minister of Justice Robert Madej thinks that the amendment does not respect the division of powers among three branches of government and means excessive interference into independence of the judiciary. He therefore might consider a filing to the Constitutional Court. The amendment will become effective on May 1, 2011.
SITA