Lack of judges threatens work of Constitutional Court

The Slovak Constitutional Court lacks three of its required total of 13 judges, which could have negative consequences, according to its president Iveta Macejková cited by the TASR press agency. "In a situation in which the Constitutional Court is only working with ten judges, I fear two very real consequences: a further protraction of the average length of proceedings, and an even more serious threat to the court's decision-making ability, as it will be difficult to acquire at least seven votes from judges ... with only ten judges available", said Macejková. The court has lacked judges since 2014, when three posts were left vacant. President Andrej Kiska only appointed one judge - Jana Baricová - from the six candidates approved by parliament. Although they met the legal requirements of the post, the remaining five judges failed to show deep interest in constitutional law and lacked the necessary qualifications. Subsequently, lawsuits concerning whether the president's decisions contradicted the Constitution were filed. The court's senate ruled that the president violated the rights of three candidates. Another post at the Constitutional Court was left vacant in February 2016. The then parliament elected two candidates - Mojmír Mamojka and Jana Laššáková. Kiska hasn't yet made a decision concerning them. Prior to the general election on March 5 he said that he wants to discuss further moves with the new MPs.