The Constitutional Court is ready to work again as President Zuzana Caputova appointed 6 remaining judges to this institution that has not been functioning properly for almost eight months. Meanwhile, MPs tried to elect candidates for the position in the highest body of the Slovak judicial system five times. The Constitutional Court has not been fully functional since the tenures of nine of its judges expired in mid-February. The court thus functioned for a while with a mere four judges. Parliament was supposed to elect 18 candidates, out of which the head of state should have appointed nine judges. The parliament in a fifth vote on Wednesday last week managed to elect all the remaining candidates for Constitutional Court judges. A couple of judges were already appointed by previous President Andrej Kiska. Ivan Fiacan has become the court's chairman. Now the remaining judges have been appointed, the Constitutional Court has all its 13 judges.
President Zuzana Caputova in her speech following the appointment of new judges of the Constitutional Court on Thursday said she believes that the new judges will contribute to justice and trust in the judiciary. "If the suspicions we have been reading about in the past couple of days are confirmed, it will be evidence of the biggest failure that can occur in the judiciary. At the same time, it will be a clear call to the judiciary for its self-healing. We mustn't miss this opportunity," said Caputova.
Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) agrees with President Zuzana Caputova's speech that there is an urgent need to cleanse the judiciary. "The community of judges must find in itself mechanisms of self-cleansing, seeing as it's independent and separated from the executive and legislative branches of power. It's up to them to find the the resolve and courage to de-bench those who tarnish the good reputation and erode trust in the Slovak judiciary," stated Pellegrini. He believes that as long as judges who distort the system continue to sit in courts, the situation will never change for the better.
Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) welcomed the fact that the Constitutional Court is now fully-staffed. "I'm glad that the Constitutional Court is already completely functional, that it has a complete number of judges, that it is able to cope with all cases, to decide on them and that no delay is threatening that would endanger people," said Danko. He believes in the impartiality of the judges offered to the President by Parliament.
Justice Minister Gabor Gal (Most-Hid) views the choice of the judges selected by President Zuzana Caputova as good and hopes it will be mirrored in the Constitutional Court's decision-making as well. Gal considers the choice to be "a little bit of everything" given that lawyers, judges and academics have been selected. Commenting on the long process of candidate selection in Parliament, Gal stated that it was tough. "It's the top post in the constitutional system as far as judges are concerned," stressed Gal.
The nascent staffing of the Constitutional Court could easily prove to be the best in its history, Constitutional Court chair Ivan Fiacan said after President Zuzana Caputova appointed the remaining judges on Thursday. "The public has every reason to be happy. In my view, a Constitutional Court is coming into being with high odds of becoming one of the best in its history," claimed Fiacan. More reactions to the finally completed number of Constitutional Court judges in our Topical issue.
