Working at the Supreme Court isn't overly attractive for judges, the court's chairperson Daniela Švecová said on Wednesday. Švecová and Judicial Council chair Jana Bajánková are planning to come up with a set of legislative measures to counter this state of affairs. The Supreme Court is currently seven judges short, as only 78 out of 85 judges' posts are occupied at present. By Švecová's own admission, the court has a difficult time filling vacancies. The court is currently seeking to fill six of the posts. In addition, five more judges are set to be recalled by President Andrej Kiska because they have reached retirement age. "We're facing a major difficulty in acquiring judges, that is regional courts, as none of them want to come here because we have essentially nothing to offer them," said Švecová, pointing to several unsuccessful selection procedures. Bajánková weighed in by saying that eight judges have recently joined the Supreme Court - five of them have been transferred while three are on temporary internships. She, too, admitted that this is not enough and that there are difficulties in filling vacancies. "The motivation on the part of regional court judges, who are the most qualified to seek these posts, is certainly small," said Bajánková.
The difference in salaries amounts to around 5 percent, which is insufficient to cover the extra expenditures incurred by relocating to Bratislava. Bajánková stated that the planned measures are designed to change the situation. "We see a way of making the occupation of judge in relation to the Supreme Court more attractive, because it's certainly not normal to have only two people interested in joining the commercial law panel of judges." She wouldn't specify what the measures would entail, but did say that the solution doesn't only lie in salaries. She also blamed working conditions at the Supreme Court, calling them 'disastrous'. The idea of higher salaries for Supreme Court judges have been rejected by both Justice Minister Tomáš Borec and Prime Minister Robert Fico. "This isn't possible now. Given the conditions in Slovakia, the salaries of judges are very decent," said Fico. Borec said that judges should realise that working at the Supreme Court is a matter of honour. He called the salaries 'more than sufficient'.
