The Constitutional Court has accepted a challenge lodged by general prosecutor-elect Jozef Čentéš, on grounds of suspected bias, against Justices Peter Brňák and Milan Ľalík ruling on a complaint also lodged by Čentéš, related to the president’s failure to appoint him as general prosecutor. The court senate, comprising Justices Lajos Mészáros, Juraj Horvát and Sergej Kohut, issued the ruling on Thursday, January 24, the TASR newswire reported.
The Sme daily speculated that Čentéš probably objected to the two judges’ past connections with the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) or with President Ivan Gašparovič himself, who was for many years a senior member of the HZDS.
Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška earlier prolonged the deadline for submitting new candidates for job of general prosecutor until Tuesday, January 29. However, the ruling Smer party still does not have a proposed candidate, as regional prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár does not want to run until the Constitutional Court rules on Čentéš's complaint. The opposition parties argue that Čentéš should be appointed by President Gašparovič.
Sources: TASR, Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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