Supreme Court chairwoman Daniela Švecová (source: Sme)
The ruling turned down her proposal for disciplinary proceedings against Harabin.
The case involves the release of a convicted sex offender identified as Milan M. on lapse charges due to a procedural issue. Švecová does not find it normal that the Disciplinary Senate at its closed session on May 13 rejected her motion on camera. She says she herself did not even know that the session had taken place. “I don’t have a written ruling, so I cannot comment on it now,” Švecová said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Also on May 13 Harabin was exonerated vis-a-vis the disciplinary proceedings filed by Judicial Council chairwoman Jana Bajánková on Švecová’s behalf. The Disciplinary Senate turned down her proposal at a public session. Bajánková demanded in her proposal a fine for Harabin for his statements directed against Švecová that questioned her sanity.
Bajánková could not say whether she will appeal the verdict or not. “I need to have a written justification of the ruling so that I can learn about the reasons,” she said.
Moreover, the former justice minister and twice Supreme Court – and also Judicial Council – chairman Harabin demanded on May 13 that both Bajánková and Švecová resign immediately. They both rejected Harabin’s appeal and refused to comment on any of his statements.
Harabin, 59, has faced a total of four proposals for disciplinary proceedings. Aside from Bajánková, three others were filed against him by Švecová. In her first proposal, she demanded Harabin be reassigned to a lower level court, in the second she called for a fine and in the third for his de-benching. Harabin did lose his Supreme Court criminal panel chairmanship in September 2015.
