Susko: Constitutional Court Overburdened by Delay Complaints, a Remedy Needed

Bratislava, 25 January (TASR) – The Constitutional Court is excessively burdened by an agenda of complaints over delays in court proceedings, which make up as much as 30 percent of all cases it handles, with has prompted the Justice Ministry to draft an amendment to the Courts Act under which delays in proceedings would be dealt with primarily by the superior court, as it is best acquainted with the conditions at the court where the delays arose, Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) said in an interview for TASR.

In Susko's view, delays in proceedings are one of the serious problems of the Slovak judiciary.

According to the minister, the reform of the judicial map has also had a negative impact on delays, as it prolonged individual proceedings, especially in Bratislava and Kosice, where courts were integrated and agendas were transferred from one court to another. This, he said, caused further delays in proceedings.

"At present, in addressing delays in proceedings, the system is set up so that procedural parties can turn to the Constitutional Court with complaints about delays, including claims of damage, and this places an excessive burden on it," Susko explained.

The closer the resolution of delays is set to the court where the delay occurred, the more efficiently they can be resolved, according to Susko.

The head of the justice department admitted that the proposed change would call for more personnel, but he considers this a temporary situation. In his view, it can be resolved by bolstering the staffing of courts, whether by judges themselves or by support personnel.

Susko acknowledged that the proposed change has also faced criticism. However, he does not believe that leaving the entire agenda of delays up to the Constitutional Court is the right solution.

"We are looking for an optimal model so that it does not overly burden the courts. At the same time, it should enable them to deal with delays effectively at the source, not only at the Constitutional Court, which in principle has no means of remedy and deals only with compensation for damage or non-pecuniary harm caused by delays," Susko summed up.

He added that the aim of the ministry is not to resolve compensation for delays for procedural parties through the proposed change, but to set measures for courts so that delays do not occur.