Judges and their independence. Survey results.

At the beginning of this year, Slovak judges participated in the ‘Survey among Judges on their Independence 2025’. This is an anonymous questionnaire from the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary, through which each judge could express their opinion on the state of their independence. The Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic is a member of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ), which is committed to promoting the independence of courts and judges, including through this questionnaire. The survey is not conducted every year; this is the third such questionnaire. The last survey was conducted in 2022.

The aim was to achieve at least 20% participation in each country, ensuring the results were relevant. Of the 32 countries that participated in the survey through judges from their respective countries, Slovakia ranked tenth in terms of the percentage of judges participating. As many as 45% of Slovak judges completed the questionnaire, representing a significant improvement from the survey three years ago, when Slovakia´s response rate was just under 20%.

"I think it is very important for European institutions to receive feedback directly from judges in each Member State, including Slovak judges. The results of the survey are an important indicator of how the independence of the entire judicial system is perceived by judges themselves, as well as a basis for further cooperation across Europe over the next few years to improve the position of judges and their respect not only in the eyes of the public, but also on the part of other state authorities and the media," said Marcela Kosová, President of the Judicial Council.

The survey is designed to ask judges for a general assessment of their independence, i.e., how they perceive it, but it also examines various aspects of independence in depth. This year, questions about the occurrence of intimidation and threats against judges were added.

When assessing the independence of judges in general, on a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents the highest possible level of independence, Slovak judges scored 8.4 points, with the average being 8.5. In terms of personal independence of judges, Slovakia scored 9.3, with the ENCJ average being 9.1.

"Judges were also asked about inappropriate media influence on their decisions over the past three years. The ENCJ average is 19%, while Slovak judges feel this phenomenon in 47% of cases, with only Ukraine (48%) and Croatia (51%) reporting higher rates. As regards social media, 34% of judges in Slovakia feel that it has an inappropriate influence, while the ENCJ average is 12%. Only Ukraine has a higher percentage, at 40%," concluded Marcela Kosová.

The results of the survey are available on the website of the Judicial Council here:

ENCJ Survey among judges on the Independence of the Judiciary 2025  - 10 MB