THE JUDICIAL Council elects the new president of the Supreme Court at its September 16 session, which starts at 14:00. The post has been vacant since June 22 when the tenure of previous Supreme Court president and Judicial Council chair Štefan Harabin expired.
The council members are also expected to elect the new chair of the Judicial Council since the two posts have been divided since the beginning of September, in accordance with a constitutional amendment. The Supreme Court president will then be appointed by the president, the SITA newswire reported.
Three candidates are running for Supreme Court president: Daniela Švecová, nominated by the council of judges of the Trnava Regional Court and several Supreme Court justices; Daniel Hudák, nominated by Supreme Court judges; and Ivan Rumana, who submitted his candidacy on his own.
The first round of voting took place in mid-May. The members of the Judicial Council failed to elect one of the three candidates: Harabin; Judge Zuzana Ďurišová, proposed by For an Open Justice initiative; and Jana Bajánková, a nominee of Justice Minister Tomáš Borec. Unlike the first round, the vote for this election will be secret, as allowed by a change passed within the amendment to the law on judges and judicial clerks on June 24, SITA wrote.
At the beginning of the Judicial Council session, the members discussed whether or not they could elect the new Supreme Court president and its chair, since they are short one member. According to the law, there should be 18 members, but since Harabin left, the council has had only 17 members. The council finally decided that its members would vote to fill the empty posts, SITA wrote.
If the Judicial Council fails to elect a new Supreme Court president, there will be a third round, which, unlike the second round, will be open to the failed candidates from the first round.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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