The constitutional reform of the Judicial Council in the Slovak Republic from the European comparative context

Abstract

This contribution responds to the so-called judicial amendment to the Constitution of the Slovak Republic of 9 December 2020, which was published in the Collection of Law No. 422/2020, which resulted, inter alia, in major changes of the position, composition, and powers of the Judicial Council of the SR; the author points to the evolution of the Slovak Judicial Council since 2001 as well as summarizes the circumstances that led to its establishment, also changes in its constitutional status, composition, presidency, and competencies. The contribution includes concrete details how, according to recent constitutional reform, the system of checks and balances in the composition of the Judicial Council of the Slovak republic was implemented, to eliminate the judicial corporatism and negative consequences of political influence on that matter. The essential part of this document is the comparative analysis of the selected aspects of the composition of judicial councils in the selected European states. Special attention is paid to the issue of the majority of the judges among other members and the influence of the political forces in the process of selecting the members of the judicial councils. All of these used methods of scientific research led the author to formulate and identify the system of checks and balances in the composition of the judicial councils to ensure the independence and effectiveness of the judicial council and even for the whole judiciary in a national and/or European environment.