Ivan Rumana (source: SITA)
Eleven members of the Judicial Council picked judge Ivan Rumana as a candidate for the General Court of the European Union (EGC). He was picked from among three candidates, one of whom was President Andrej Kiska’s advisor Ján Mazák (former chief justice of the Constitutional Court who proceeded to the second round with Rumana, where he received three votes) and a candidate of the Slovak Bar Chamber and the Notaries’ Chamber, Michal Kučera.
Rumana’s nomination still needs to be approved by the government, and then the Advisory Committee of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the Pravda daily wrote on January 30.
Slovakia is the last country that failed in the past two years to fill this position. The Advisory Committee of the ECJ had already before rejected two Slovak candidates, current ombudswoman Jana Patakyová as well as politician and former presidential candidate Radoslav Procházka.
Who is candidate Rumana?
Rumana does not fear such complications, as quoted by Pravda, since he argues he has sufficient experience and knowledge of French.
“I am a justice of the Supreme Court, and I am going to execute a judge’s position,” he told the daily. “I had the opportunity to test this environment at a six-month internship at the Court of Justice, and so I know where I am heading, and I have come to know this milieu.”
He added that the committee to approve him has strict criteria – which correspond with the importance of the position. Rumana also noted that his knowledge of French was tested by his stay at the ECJ.
The Slovak candidate has been working for 20 years as a judge, out of that 12 years at the Supreme Court, mostly focusing on economic competition, state aid and copyright issues.
