At the Constitutional Court (ÚS) SR for two years, one judge is missing, So far, the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic has not been able to choose candidates from which the head of state would choose a new constitutional judge. The opposition criticizes the state, claiming that the coalition “holds” for someone specific. Coalition officials refuse this.
“Of course this is not the ideal situation, but this is a question for parliament and president,” He told reporters Minister of Justice Boris Susko (Smer-SD), who also has the opportunity to propose candidates. “We’ll see if we will have any suggestions. We don’t have such candidates yet,” He answered the question of whether he would nominate someone for the judge of the ÚS. “It is also disinterest, it is, of course, the question of the coalition agreement, because without it, no one can be chosen in parliament, so probably without any agreement, someone is meaningful to propose,” added. The Minister rejects that the place of the judge would be occupied for someone.
According to a deputy Maria Kolíková (SaS), the missing place of the constitutional judge is the subject of political trade. “Certainly this is the only reason the court is not occupied,” she said. According to her, the long missing judge is a shame and testifies to the approach of this government to protect the Constitution of the Slovak Republic. MP Branislav Vančo (PS) thinks that law experts are not interested in running because they know that the coalition will choose “his person” and not the best. “First of all, legal authorities are not interested in standing, because they know that this coalition will only take a person there, that they are prepared for someone as a tortik,” noted.
According to Vice-President of Parliament Tibor Gašpar (Smer-SD), the coalition is already being negotiated. “We’d like to make it. But don’t look for anything more for it. People just start to be careful, because many have already entered the selection procedures multiple times and failed and did not get the right explanation. According to him, all coalition partners showed an interest in solving this question. “Certainly not,” he answered the question whether the place was the subject of a coalition struggle.
Parliament’s President Richard Raši (Voice-SD) plans to declare another attempt to elected candidates for the judge of the US only when the coalition agrees on behalf of the candidate.
There are currently 12 judges from 13. One place was released in September 2023, when Jana Laššáková resigned. By default, Parliament chooses twice the necessary number, so it has a pair of candidates. One of them is chosen by the President of the Slovak Republic and appoints him as a constitutional judge. So far, the National Council of the Slovak Republic has not chosen any candidate.
