The Judicial Council has made it possible for Supreme Court president and chairman of the Judicial Council Štefan Harabin to work from home on Mondays and Fridays. When asked how fast he is able to reach the Supreme Court building, he wrote that he can manage it in 30 minutes – or in 5 hours. The first time probably refers to his home in Bratislava; the latter to his wife's home town of Hranovnica, eastern Slovakia.
The six members of the Judicial Council who permitted the arrangement ignored a question by a Supreme Court judge about whether it would be possible to run the Supreme Court from home; they also ignored an internal rule that a judge cannot stay home on days when his senate has hearings. Harabin is a member of the appellate senate that should sit every other Monday, although often this is not the case, the Sme daily wrote on Wednesday, September 21. The organisational order, a set of rules signed by Harabin himself, stipulates the duties of the court chairman. Harabin did not respond when Sme asked whether, or how, he planned to fulfil these rules.
Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská did not say whether she would now start to monitor more closely how Harabin fulfils his professional duties.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
