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Fico: Judges Have Damaged Their Image With Salary Lawsuits
Monday 01 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 1 (TASR) - The judges that filed lawsuits claiming financial compensation for alleged discrimination in salaries compared to judges of the erstwhile Special Court have damaged their image, said Prime Minister Robert Fico after carrying out an inspection at the Justice Ministry on Monday.
"It's a pity," said Fico, adding that the judges' actions haven't received a warm response from the public. While he understands their internal motives, he also asserts that the state doesn't have €100 million for compensating fictitious differences.
Fico believes that many legal questions will still arise concerning the matter, such as the partiality of judges that filed lawsuits and will also decide on the issue.
When asked whether Justice Minister Viera Petrikova shouldn't retract her own lawsuit as well, the premier said that he can't force a person with the right to file a lawsuit to withdraw it. In the same breath, he said that Petrikova should take an active part in resolving the problem.
Petrikova reacted by saying that she submitted her complaint when she was a judge, and wanted to use it to indicate that the Special Court was unconstitutional. "The money didn't matter," she said, adding that she is considering further moves at the moment.
The Justice Minister said that the case has obviously been puffed up by the media in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections (June 12), as suits were filed at the courts three years ago. She noted that there are 150 suits in total with no dramatic increase recently.
SME daily reported in early February that Bratislava Regional Court on February 1 awarded almost €90,000 to Trencin Regional Court judge Ondrej Gaborik for receiving a lower salary than those of judges at the Special Court.
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