BRATISLAVA, September 10, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovak Minister of Justice Lucia Zitnanska attended a meeting of representatives of the Visegrad Group countries (V4) in Polish Krynica and spoke at a panel discussion on the Judiciary in Central Europe — how to address future challenges. She spoke about the issue of finding the necessary balance of power in a country between legislative, executive, and judicial branches, as well as opening up the judiciary to public scrutiny. The event is part of the 20th Economic Forum in Krynica. An informal meeting of V4 justice ministers is scheduled for the afternoon to discuss the priorities of the Polish presidency of the EU Council in 2011.
In addition to Zitnanska, attending the panel discussion was Czech Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil, Hungarian Deputy Minister of Justice Robert Repassy, and Minister of Justice of the Republic of Poland Krzysztof Kwiatkowski. The main theme that resonated was the need to find the necessary balance between an independent judiciary and efficient management of courts, measures to enhance credibility of the judiciary as well as to speed up court proceedings.
Zitnanska used this international forum to present her vision and plans for opening of Slovak justice system. Public control and its role in addressing issues of justice in Central Europe appeared to interest her partners too, as problems such as low confidence, speeding up court proceedings, effective management of the courts and independence of judges are similar with regard to the similar historic development of the four countries.
SITA