Jan Šikuta elected Supreme Court Chair

The Judicial Council has elected Jan Šikuta as Supreme Court chair; however, he still need to be approved by President Zuzana Čaputová in order to take up the post. Šikuta considers the task of improving the perception of the justice system in the eyes of the public to be his priority in office. "Currently, the Slovak judiciary is in a situation in which probably no European country has found itself, where there are so many judges from all levels being prosecuted for alleged corruption," noted Šikuta. He therefore considers the cleansing of the judiciary a priority. He also wants to achieve this through effective asset declarations and the screening of judges. He also pointed out that legislative changes will be needed to achieve this. Supreme Court Judge Juraj Kliment, who was among those judges who did not vote for any of the candidates, stated that Šikuta's election is a compromise and a surprise. "I don't consider this vote to be significant in terms of cleansing and making changes to the judiciary. I'm personally disappointed," said Kliment. He and other members of the Judicial Council have criticised Šikuta for his past, which is allegedly associated with the controversial former Justice Minister and Supreme Court chair Štefan Harabin and the judges surrounding him. The Supreme Court has been without a chair since October 2019, when the tenure of Daniela Švecová expired.