The Constitutional Court has decided that head of the Supreme Court, Stefan Harabin, went against the Constitution when he replaced three judges in the famous Tipos case.
The case involves big money, especially for the company Lemikon, which assumed the claims of former Czechoslovak lottery company Sportka and was officially awarded EUR 14 million (claims of EUR 76 million pending).
Harabin had three of the five judges in the five-member senate at the Supreme Court replaced, with the new senate deciding in favour of the company Lemikon versus Slovak state-owned lottery Tipos.
The Constitutional Court determined that Harabin had replaced the judges after the case had been assigned for judgement and that this is against the Constitution. What consequences Harabin will have to suffer based on this latest ruling are not yet known, but he could be facing more disciplinary action.
The case of Tipos versus Lemikon has been returned to the Supreme Court for reevaluation, with the ruling particularly welcomed by the company Tipos.