Judicial Council chair to file disciplinary proposal against Harabin

JUDICIAL Council chair Jana Bajánková will file a motion to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Štefan Harabin over his statements against Supreme Court chair Daniela Švecová, the TASR newswire learnt on December 17.

Štefan HarabinŠtefan Harabin (Source: SME)

Harabin has claimed in the past that the Supreme Court chair is “in her own way a wretch”, who might “end up at the psychiatric asylum”. As for President Andrej Kiska, Harabin has stated, alluding to Kiska’s previous involvement with non-banking institutions, that he feels no respect towards him and that the thinking of the head of state “is really rooted only in usury and nothing else”, as quoted by TASR.

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Bajánková confirmed the filing of motion at the Judicial Council session held on the same day in Košice city, where members voted on three disciplinary motions against Harabin.

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None of the proposals received a majority of the Judicial Council votes, with Bajánková  lacking a single vote which would have allowed her to shepherd her motion against Harabin through the Council. Bajánková , however, abstained from the vote herself, as she did not want to prejudge the initiative.

In her capacity as Judicial Council chair, Bajánková is empowered to file the disciplinary proposal even without a resolution from the council.

Judicial Council members Jan Klucka, Elena Berthotyová and Dušan Čimo tabled the proposal to launch disciplinary proceedings against Supreme Court judge Harabin on October 19, due to Harabin’s statements addressed to Švecová, Kiska and the college of the Supreme Court.

The third disciplinary proposal was filed over what was perceived as Harabin’s failure to address the fact that two panels within his college differed in their views on two issues. The two matters were the lawfulness of the Interior Ministry’s police corps inspection and the lawfulness of rulings made by judge Milan Varga, who was convicted in the Czech Republic in 2011 for driving under the influence and, under Slovak law, a judge sentenced for any intentional crime is to be de-benched.

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Harabin has undermined the trustworthiness of the judiciary with his statements, according to Judicial Council member Berthotyová.

“I’m convinced that a judge can voice his opinion, even level criticism at constitutional officials, but such criticism must be factual and never vulgar, aggressive or lacking decorum,” Berthotyová said, as quoted by TASR.

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