Some are claiming it as a ray of hope for the future of the judiciary in Slovakia, after Supreme Court and Judicial Council chairman Stefan Harabin lost his tight grip on the Judicial Council when 1,152 judges voted in the new council members.
The judges voted in a total of eight new members to the Council, but only four of them are classed as in Harabin’s gang, so to speak, with the other four better known for their criticism of the man. Harabin is renowned for keeping everything close to his belt, normally having control or influence over those in any position to do anything, beating down opponents from his position of concurrently holding the two most important posts in the judiciary.
The latest voting, however, means his grip is slackening as judges will no longer merely get into rank and do what they are told. The newly elected members are Peter Straka, Rudolf Čirč, Milan Ďurica, Ján Vanko, Imrich Volkai, Igor Burger, Dana Bystrianská and Jana Bajánková, who combined with other members appointed by the former government ensure that Harabin’s majority influence over the Council is a thing of the past.
In response to the results, Harabin said “I respect the results of the elections. I congratulate my colleagues who were successful and already now look forward to co-operation”.