The European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) sided with Supreme Court Chairman Štefan Harabin in his lawsuit against Slovakia, in which he contested the disciplinary punishment – the curtailing of his monthly salary by 70 percent for one year - for having refused a Finance Ministry audit at the Slovak Supreme Court.
However, the ECHR did not grant Harabin the €150,000 in damages that he sought, but only €3,000 plus the €500 of cost of the trial, the SITA newswire wrote on Tuesday, November 20. According to the ECHR’s verdict, Harabin’s right to a just hearing from an unbiased court tribunal was violated.
The TASR newswire quoted the ECHR as having stated that it considered Harabin’s request for repayment of material damages stemming from the disciplinary proceeding unfounded. The court only acknowledged the amount of €3,000 as compensaiton for non-material damages, and it called on Slovakia to pay €500 to cover the costs of the trial. Slovakia must pay the amount within three months of the court’s November 20 decision.
Prior to ECHR case, Harabin’s demands for damage compensation were refused by Slovak courts, after which he turned to the ECHR, asking for €51,299 for material damages and €100,000 for non-material damages, as well as €643 to cover trial expenses. The dispute originated during the previous government, when the Constitutional Court ruled that Štefan Harabin committed a disciplinary misdemeanour when he refused to allow a Finance Ministry audit of the Supreme Court.
(Source: SITA, TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
