Kiska cited the bias of the judges of the Constitutional Court (CC) in his objections against a panel of judges meant to deliberate the complaints of their colleagues whom he refused to appoint. Most recently, on January 24, the appellate panel of the CC ruled that the court’s first panel, composed of judges Milan Ľalík, Peter Brňák and Marianna Mochnáčová, is not disqualified from executing the position of judge in due court proceeding, the Denník N daily wrote.
The case concerns the complaint of five judges whom the president refused to appoint – as candidates approved by parliament – as Constitutional Court judges: Ján Bernát, Miroslav Duriš, Eva Fulcová, Juraja Sopoliga and Jana Laššáková. Kiska argued they fail to fulfill the demands connected with such a position, the TASR newswire wrote.
By the end of last October, Kiska filed an objection of bias against the judges of the first panel of the CC – with the Constitutional Court. The president also filed a motion to launch disciplinary proceeding against members of this panel, arguing they used procedural discrimination against him when he did not receive the complaints of the not-appointed candidates for comments before it had been adopted, as a side of the case.
CC chairperson Ivetta Macejková then refused to file a proposal for disciplinary proceeding, saying that the course of the first panel judges was in compliance with the legal procedural rules concerning the process before the Constitutional Court and it could not have caused any violation of the president’s procedural rights.
The January 24 decision was made by the second panel – judges Lajos Mészáros, Ľudmila Gajdošíková and Ladislav Orosz, CC spokesperson Martina Ferencová informed TASR.