Slovakia’s new Justice Minister, Tomas Borec, will not withdraw the disciplinary motions previously filed by former justice minister Lucia Žitňanská against Štefan Harabin, the president of the Supreme Court and chair of the country’s Judiciary Council until the Constitutional Court makes its rulings, the TASR newswire reported.
The court has ruled on one of the four motions but three are yet to be decided. Last year the Constitutional Court ordered that Harabin should lose 70 percent of his salary as a penalty for not allowing the Finance Ministry to conduct an audit of the Supreme Court in 2011.
Regarding lawsuits filed by some judges alleging pay discrimination, the new justice minister noted that from the public's point of view the best solution would be if these judges recognised that their claims are inappropriate.
Borec went on to say that he is prepared to deal with the issue of unwarranted delays in court proceedings. "It isn't a short-distance run. I want to continue with electronisation of the judiciary," said Borec, adding that he also wants to retain the system for evaluating judges introduced by Žitňanská.
Speaking about his additional goals, the former head of the Slovak Bar Association said that all potential legislative changes will be presented and discussed with the general public and experts. Borec also said that all citizens, regardless of their socio-economic status, should have equal access to justice. Borec added that he would like to be remembered as a professional who did everything he could to make the judiciary work well, TASR wrote.
Source: 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.
