The Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic supported activities of the European Judicial Training Network

A foreign delegation visited the seat of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic today. It consisted of five judges working within the Maltese judicial system and representatives of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic. The exchange programme is one of the activities of the international non-profit organisation European Judicial Training Network. Its aim is to provide training programmes for members of the judiciary within Europe with a truly European focus. Therefore, during the visit, the participants got acquainted mainly with the legal system of the Slovak Republic. Dana Jelinková Dudzíková and Lajos Mészáros, two members of the Judicial Council attended the meeting on behalf of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic. It was the first time that judges from Malta visited the seat of the Slovak Judicial Council as part of a bilateral educational exchange programme. For this reason, the introduction of the meeting was devoted to the history of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic and the process of its establishment from a constitutional point of view. The establishment of the Judicial Council was one of the conditions for Slovakia's accession to the European Union. At that time, European authorities demanded the depoliticisation of the selection of judges in the Slovak Republic, which until then was exclusively in the hands of the Parliament. From the very first moment of its establishment, the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic acted as an independent body for the creation of the judicial function. Today it is the supreme body of judicial legitimacy. The delegation was also informed about the composition of the Judicial Council and its competences, the process of selection of judges in the Slovak Republic and the disciplinary powers of the President of the Judicial Council.