The judiciary must not be used to boost the declining preferences of political parties
The President of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic, Marcela Kosová, on behalf of all judges of the Slovak Republic, strongly objects to the unacceptable statements made by the deputy of the political party Sloboda a Solidarita, Mária Kolíková, who purposely and without context linked the abolition of the Analytical Centre as an organisational unit of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic with her fear of chaos and corruption related to the functioning of the courts.
It is unacceptable for politicians to misuse the judiciary to increase declining political preferences and to push negative attitudes towards judges into society with statements that literally insult judges as representatives of one of the three powers in the state and have nothing to do with reality.
If the former Minister of Justice claims that there will be no one to make an informed assessment of what the judicial reform has done in Slovakia, the President of the Judicial Council reminds her that there are court presidents, judges and court staff who know the answer to this question. And they knew it during the preparation of the new court map, but their opinion was not of interest to the creators of the court map.
Marcela Kosová points out that the Consultative Council of European Judges, for example, in its opinion of 2021, repeatedly referred to its previous opinions and called for respect for the important role of the judiciary as a third power in a democratic state governed by the rule of law. It is therefore the role of judicial councils to prevent even the appearance of external influence and pressure so that the public can trust that judicial decisions are taken in such an independent manner.
The Judicial Council must decisively confront any attempt to attack or coerce individual judges or the judiciary as a whole. It is sad that it must also face such disparaging attacks from a former Minister of Justice who is deliberately undermining the already fragile public confidence in the impartiality of the courts in public for no good reason, moreover, with narratives based on statements about the collective corruption of judges.
The President of the Judicial Council concludes that she will inform the European Network of Councils for Judiciary about these attacks on the judiciary as part of the ongoing communication on the European Commission's Rule of Law Report.
It is unacceptable for politicians to misuse the judiciary to increase declining political preferences and to push negative attitudes towards judges into society with statements that literally insult judges as representatives of one of the three powers in the state and have nothing to do with reality.
If the former Minister of Justice claims that there will be no one to make an informed assessment of what the judicial reform has done in Slovakia, the President of the Judicial Council reminds her that there are court presidents, judges and court staff who know the answer to this question. And they knew it during the preparation of the new court map, but their opinion was not of interest to the creators of the court map.
Marcela Kosová points out that the Consultative Council of European Judges, for example, in its opinion of 2021, repeatedly referred to its previous opinions and called for respect for the important role of the judiciary as a third power in a democratic state governed by the rule of law. It is therefore the role of judicial councils to prevent even the appearance of external influence and pressure so that the public can trust that judicial decisions are taken in such an independent manner.
The Judicial Council must decisively confront any attempt to attack or coerce individual judges or the judiciary as a whole. It is sad that it must also face such disparaging attacks from a former Minister of Justice who is deliberately undermining the already fragile public confidence in the impartiality of the courts in public for no good reason, moreover, with narratives based on statements about the collective corruption of judges.
The President of the Judicial Council concludes that she will inform the European Network of Councils for Judiciary about these attacks on the judiciary as part of the ongoing communication on the European Commission's Rule of Law Report.
