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Fico:Biggest Challenge for Slovak Judiciary Is to Eliminate Court Delays -UPDATE
Monday 01 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 1 (TASR) - Delays in court cases are the most serious problem in the Slovak judicial system, which is partly demonstrated by the number of complaints sent by Slovaks to the Slovak Supreme Court and the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, said Prime Minister Robert Fico on Monday after carrying out a personal inspection at the Justice Ministry.
Fico welcomed the ministry's efforts since 2006 to eliminate this long-term problem, which he also highlighted as the biggest challenge for the ministry in the future. He praised the decision to re-open nine district courts, which he views as a big contribution to ensuring proper law enforcement.
The reduction of fees for court cases was highlighted as another positive step during the current Government's term of office, but Fico still considers them to be too high.
Most of all, the ministry should also try to improve the public's view of the Slovak judiciary, which isn't rosy, said the premier.
Justice Minister Viera Petrikova claimed that "significant improvements" have been seen in terms of the issuing of court verdicts, with shorter periods especially in cases with which courts had been dealing for more than five years. While 76,837 cold civil cases were still being tackled by district courts in 2006, this figure went down to 57,232 as of late 2009. A reduction was also seen vis-a-vis criminal cases.
Fico said that he plans to shift some powers from the ministry to the Judicial Council, via which room would be created for the ministry to deal with the legislative agenda in a better way. "Legislation needs better co-ordination, as we have no vice-premier for this area in the Cabinet. If stripped of some of its current powers, the ministry could then be asked to focus on other activities in relation to individual fields of legislation," explained the premier.
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