The Judicial Council rejected attacks on judges of the Regional Court in Bratislava
The Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic at its first session this year unanimously condemned the media attacks by Štefan Harabin on the judges of the Regional Court in Bratislava. The agenda concerned information published in the media that the former President of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, former President of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic, former Minister of Justice and former candidate for the President of the Slovak Republic, Štefan Harabin, had addressed the judges of the Regional Court in Bratislava, who had ruled in a case in which he was one of the parties to the litigation, saying that this was an abuse of power on the part of these judges and that they would be stripped of their robes.
The item was included on the agenda on the basis of a proposal by six members of the Judicial Council. "We are aware that the competence of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic in such matters should be exercised only as the most extreme possible means of redress, as we see room here primarily for the judges´ councils of the courts in question. Such cases also include situations where the originator of attacks on courts and judges is a person of public interest whose public statements to the mass media have a much greater capacity to undermine public confidence in the judiciary than is the case of attacks on courts by other participants in court proceedings, which get either no or only minimal media coverage. The Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic cannot accept that insulting statements by persons of public interest who question the judicial power and insult specific judges are becoming a common phenomenon in the media space", said Marcela Kosová.
The January meeting of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic was attended by all its current members. They unanimously rejected the attacks on the judges of the Regional Court in Bratislava. Despite the fact that the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic is still incomplete, sixteen members of this constitutional body of judicial legitimacy voted in favour of the resolution publicly declaring their position. Any attack on a particular judge as a representative of one of the three powers in the state is an attack on the entire judiciary and a very dangerous phenomenon capable of seriously threatening the independence of the judiciary.
For the entire adopted resolution in Slovak go to this link.
The item was included on the agenda on the basis of a proposal by six members of the Judicial Council. "We are aware that the competence of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic in such matters should be exercised only as the most extreme possible means of redress, as we see room here primarily for the judges´ councils of the courts in question. Such cases also include situations where the originator of attacks on courts and judges is a person of public interest whose public statements to the mass media have a much greater capacity to undermine public confidence in the judiciary than is the case of attacks on courts by other participants in court proceedings, which get either no or only minimal media coverage. The Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic cannot accept that insulting statements by persons of public interest who question the judicial power and insult specific judges are becoming a common phenomenon in the media space", said Marcela Kosová.
The January meeting of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic was attended by all its current members. They unanimously rejected the attacks on the judges of the Regional Court in Bratislava. Despite the fact that the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic is still incomplete, sixteen members of this constitutional body of judicial legitimacy voted in favour of the resolution publicly declaring their position. Any attack on a particular judge as a representative of one of the three powers in the state is an attack on the entire judiciary and a very dangerous phenomenon capable of seriously threatening the independence of the judiciary.
For the entire adopted resolution in Slovak go to this link.