Harabin sits on a new panel

FORMER Supreme Court president Štefan Harabin has ultimately lose his panel and become a member of a new one which will be led by one of his biggest critics.

Štefan HarabinŠtefan Harabin (Source: SITA)

The new work schedule at the Supreme Court is valid as of September 2. Daniela Švecová, the head of the current Supreme Court, has signed the changes which are already published on the website of the court, the SITA newswire reported. Based on the published information, Harabin will work on a panel with Juraj Kliment, Milan Karabín and Peter Szabo.

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“The changes are taking place after comprehensive contemplation, which resulted in the conviction that by implementation of a new composition of panels in individual colleges of the Supreme Court the functionality and effectiveness of individual colleges will fundamentally improve when dealing with their agendas,” the press release published on the website of the Supreme Court reads.

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Švecová believes that the approved changes will increase the quality of the process of creation and implementation of legal opinions of individual judges and that in the end the general situation in human relations will improve. She did not exclude other changes in the work schedule.

Read also: Harabin in trouble over verdicts Read more 

However, based on a press release Kliment provided to SITA, the panel of Kliment, Karabín and Szabo will not accept the change. As the press release reads, the change has not been discussed with the judges affected in a legal way. 

"While judge Harabin will be listed on the panel of the Supreme Court, he will not participate in the decision-making operation of the panel due to the above reason," the document reads. 

Another reason for such a course is "persisting expert and moral disharmony between original members of the panel of the Supreme Court and judge Harabin, which prevents any working and inter-personal communication".

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Previously Harabin sat with Gabriela Šimonová and Viliam Dohňanský. As of September 2 Šimonová will be working on a panel with Martin Piovartsy and Pavol Farkaš. Dohňanský will work on a panel with Štefan Michálik, Daniel Hudák and Peter Hatala.

The composition of appellate panels is changing as well.

Harabin has claimed that Švecová follows the instructions of politicians, which she has denied.

The situation in the Supreme Court’s Penal College has gotten complicated after two panels issued differing verdicts in rulings in a case involving the Interior Ministry’s inspectorate and the Veľký Krtíš’s judge Milan Varga, who was sentenced in the Czech Republic for driving under the influence.  

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