Supreme Court Won't Send Representative to Working Group

Bratislava, September 20 (TASR) – The Supreme Court won’t send a representative to the working group for restoring confidence in the rule of law due to the risks that could be associated with the participation of a Supreme Court nominee in this group, TASR learnt from court spokeswoman Alexandra Vazanova on Monday.

Supreme Court Chair Jan Sikuta stated that “the formation of the state’s criminal policy is primarily a matter of legislative and executive power; the role of the judicial power is to implement criminal law in specific cases … in line with rules introduced by lawmakers”. Sikuta added that the Supreme Court is ready to participate in preparing legislation via legally stipulated mechanisms.

Vazanova further stated that the exercise of judicial power must be carried out so that the requirement that it should be independent and impartial is maintained at all times, not only at a subjective level, but also on an objective basis, outwardly. “Therefore, he [Sikuta] considers it better to avoid everything that could provide even a minimal pretext for the independence and impartiality of the Supreme Court as an institution and its individual judges to be questioned,” reads the Supreme Court head’s statement.

The coalition announced the formation of the working group last Thursday (September 16) following a session of the country’s Security Council that was convened by the premier after the Internal Affairs Inspectorate (UIS) detained four National Crime Agency (NAKA) investigators as well as the acting UIS head.