Slovakia‘s slate of candidates for the position of judge of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is one of the worst scandals seen in recent months, wrote signatories of the open letter addressed to the Slovak government, in which they protest against the slate of candidates drafted by the government and the Judicial Council.
The open letter was sent as part of an initiative of the non-governmental Fair Play Alliance. In it, the signatories called upon the government not to submit the slate, which features the Vice-Dean of Comenius University's Law Faculty, Ondrej Laciak, the representative of Slovakia to the ECHR, Marica Pirošíková, and judge Andrea Krisková, to the Council of Europe and asks the Judicial Council to hold a new election.
"According to our opinion, the candidates’ slate submitted by Slovakia puts the country to international shame and is one of the worst scandals seen in recent months," said the Alliance’s Zuzana Wienk, adding that the slate was drafted by the Judicial Council in a less-than-transparent process, as quoted by the TASR newsiwire.
According to Wienk, the audio recording from the Judicial Council's session serves as evidence that not even council members had any say in the creation of the rules under which candidates were selected, with the aforementioned rules being unknown at the time either to the public or to council members. The signatories harbour a conviction that the whole selection process was controlled only by Štefan Harabin, the chair of the Judicial Council and the Supreme Court in a non-transparent manner.
In reaction to the open letter, the government recommended the signatories to turn to the Judicial Council, as the government is not invested with powers to interfere with the selection process of candidates, TASR wrote.
"Even though the stance of the government is crucial within the national procedure, it is based exclusively on the proposal made by the Judicial Council," the government’s press department wrote in a statement, as quoted by TASR.
Judicial Council head Harabin has rejected the claims made in the open letter.
"The activity of the Fair-Play Alliance can be seen as purpose-built in its effort to protect its secret favourite – judge Juraj Babjak – as part of the nepotism link between him and his wife who is actively involved in the third sector (NGOs)," said Harabin, as quoted by TASR. He also called the initiative a scheme that was plotted by unsuccessful first-round candidates.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
