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Petrikova to Report to Parliamentary Committee About Judges' Lawsuits
Tuesday 09 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, February 9 (TASR) - Justice Minister Viera Petrikova (LS-HZDS) on Tuesday was invited by the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee to report about the steps her ministry is conducting in the case of the mass lawsuits filled by hundreds of judges against alleged discrimination in salaries compared to Special Court judges.
The committee decided on Petrikova's summons unanimously, following a proposal submitted by former justice minister Daniel Lipsic (Christian Democrats/KDH).
Several judges filled the lawsuits back in 2007, pointing to the fact that the judges on the Special Court were receiving €4,000 per month more. The lawsuits were based on the Non-discrimination Act, and the state may now pay tens of thousands in euros in compensations if the judges succeed at the courts.
Last week, the Bratislava District court decided that the state is to pay almost €90,000 in compensation to Trencin Regional Court judge Ondrej Gaborik. Later it emerged that several hundrends of judges have submitted the complaints.
Lipsic reacted that the Non-Discrimination Act deals with discrimination based on sex, religious conviction, race, national and ethnic origin, age, health handicaps and sexual orientation. "Based on which of these reasons have the judges decided about the judges that weren't on the Special Court?" asked Lipsic, stressing that any judge could have applied for a post in the Special Court at the time.
He further criticised the fact that the judgement was made by a judge that also had submitted a lawsuit on the same matter, therefore the judgement couldn't have been impartial.
Petrikova said later last week that the ministry will appeal against the ruling. Also, she said the ministry didn't know about the personal involvement – the judge is among the litigants – of the judge in the Gaborik case, therefore it couldn't have raised an objection with respect to partiality.
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