Slovak President Andrej Kiska (source: TASR)
This announcement came from the head of the president's press and communications department, Roman Krpelan, on April 12, after the Slovak Judges Association (ZSS) urged him, on April 10, to ensure a sufficient complement of judges in Slovakia. Without this step, the normal functioning of the courts may be disrupted, said the ZSS as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that the country is short of at least 100 judges at the moment.
The ZSS, in a letter sent last week, pointed out that between December 2016 and March 2017, the Judicial Council presented 40 candidates for the district courts to be appointed by Kiska but the president has not installed any of them.
“The date [April 24] has been set to fit the president's work schedule,” said Krpelan. He added that on April 24 most of the 40 candidates are expected to be appointed, with the remainder to follow shortly afterwards.
Kiska last increased judicial manpower on December 19, 2016, swearing in 22 judges. The group complied with the tougher criteria related to the newly introduced examinations for judicial level of competence. Young judges most often fill vacancies left by retiring judges.
