THREE people are willing to fight for the Supreme Court president post that has been empty since June after the tenure of Štefan Harabin expired. The already confirmed candidates Daniela Švecová and Daniel Hudák were joined by Supreme Court judge Ivan Rumana. He nominated himself, the SITA newswire reported on August 20.
Švecová was nominated by the council of judges of the Trnava Regional Court as well as several justice of the Supreme Court. Another candidate, Hudák, was nominated by the group of Supreme Court judges, SITA wrote.
The second round of the election of new Supreme Court head will take place on September 16 in Bratislava. Harabin originally proposed the vote to take place in Spišské Hanušovce, but this was changed by the Judicial Council at its July meeting.
The first round took place in the eastern Slovak town of Sobrance on May 19. The Judicial Council failed to elect one of the three candidates: Harabin, Jana Bajánková, a nominee of Justice Minister Tomáš Borec, and Zuzana Ďurišová, nominated by the For Open Justice association.
Borec still has not said whether he will nominate his own candidate for the second round.
Meanwhile, the government changed the composition of the Judicial Council after it accepted Borec’s proposal to dismiss judge Jaroslav Chlebovič, who serves at the Košice Regional Court, on August 20. The cabinet has not said who will substitute him, nor the reasons for his withdrawal.
“It is a legitimate right of the government,” Prime Minister Robert Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The cabinet now has 60 days to pick his successor, SITA wrote.
In the first round of the vote over Supreme Court president, Chlebovič supported Harabin.
The cabinet still has two nominees in the council: Eva Fulcová and Ľuboš Sádovský.
The composition of the Judicial Council has changed for the second time in the past few months. President Andrej Kiska exchanged three members of the council on June 18, only three days after he was appointed to the post. He dismissed Eduard Bárány, Gabriela Šimonová and Mária Bujňáková and substituted them with Ján Klučka, Jozef Vozár and Elena Berthotyová. Bárány had resigned from the post shortly before Kiska exchanged him, SITA wrote.
Source: SITA, TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
