Judicial Council Fails to Elect Supreme Court President

Bratislava, September 10 (TASR) – The Judicial Council failed to elect a new Supreme Court president at its extraordinary session on Monday (September 9).

Judges Jana Bajankova and Sona Mesiarkinova made it to round two. However, neither of them managed to gain more than half of the votes of the 18-strong Judicial Council. Only 17 ballots were cast in a secret ballot.

Nine members of the Judicial Council voted for judge Bajankova, while two were against and six abstained from voting. Seven members voted for judge Mesiarkinova, two were against and eight abstained from voting.

None of the Judicial Council members voted for Stefan Harabin, who didn’t attend Monday’s public hearing. Fourteen members were against and three members abstained from voting. Harabin gave up his candidacy at a press conference last Thursday (September 5), however, he hasn’t sent an announcement to the council in writing.

The extraordinary session of the Judicial Council, including the public hearing of three candidates and two rounds of secret ballots, took almost eight hours.

The Judicial Council will hold the next election of Supreme Court president in 45 days at the soonest and in 120 at the latest.