President Appoints New District Court Judges, Appeals for Their Independence

Bratislava, May 5 (TASR) – President Zuzana Caputova appointed six new district court judges in Kosice, Trebisov (Kosice region) and Nove Zamky (Nitra region) on Tuesday.

In her speech Caputova appealed for judicial independence, which she doesn’t view as a private right of judges but a constitutional right of citizens. “You personally must earn respect for the profession of judge,” the president told the new judges. She pointed to the fact that they are assuming their posts at a time when the cleansing of the judiciary is one of the most important issues and when the depth and extent of problems are being gradually revealed. “We need to keep hearing how it is possible that such failures have occurred and how we can prevent them from occurring in the future,” said Caputova.

The new judges will mostly reinforce Kosice district courts. Eva Dosedla, Karol Fil, Jana Macalova and Michal Pacuta will begin serving at Kosice courts that were left by more than 15 judges in March. The president appointed Linda Szarasova to Nove Zamky District Court and Zuzana Pajtasova to Trebisov District Court. The latter told media after her appointment that she’ll do her best to improve the image of the judiciary following the detention of several judges as a part of the police’s Operation Storm. “I will strive to be a fair, prompt and honest judge,” she said.