La Cour Suprême de la République Slovaque

Cour Suprême de la République Slovaque

Under the law, the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic is the highest judicial authority of the Slovak Republic. It exercises its jurisdiction through its panels and their presiding judges, through divisions and their presiding judges and through the President and Vice-President of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic.

The distribution of cases at the Supreme Court in a given calendar year is determined by the work schedule formulated by the President of the Supreme Court upon a proposal presented by the presiding judges of the various divisions.

As of November 1, 2003 the number of judges at the Supreme Court was 78.

The Supreme Court sits on three-member panels composed of the presiding judge and two judges and on five-member panels composed of the presiding judge and four judges. The head of the panel is the presiding judge.

Three-member panels :

 rule on regular and exceptional legal remedies which challenge decisions made by regional courts, district courts, the Higher Military Court and military district courts, and other cases as set out in the law ;

 examine the legality of decisions made by central authorities of the state administration, unless the law stipulates otherwise, decide on the recognition and enforceability of decisions of foreign courts in the territory of the Slovak Republic in cases prescribed by law or by international treaty ;

Five-member panels :

rule on exceptional legal remedies which challenge decisions that the Supreme Court panels have adopted regarding regular legal remedies.

Based on the knowledge derived from their decision-making, the panels :

 suggest which of their final decisions should be published in the Collection of Judicial Decisions and Opinions of the Courts of the Slovak Republic,

 bring to the attention of the presiding judge of the division those cases in which final court decisions reflect conflicting interpretations of laws and other generally binding regulations,

 prepare inputs for the report of the Supreme Court concerning the effects of laws and other generally binding regulations, and for the proposals of new legislation.

The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic has four divisions: criminal, civil, commercial and administrative.

The judges are assigned to divisions according to the field in which they work. The heads of divisions are their presiding judges who organize and manage division activities.

Divisions give opinions with the aim of unifying interpretation of laws and other generally binding legal regulations :

 upon a proposal presented by the presiding judge of a division if final decisions issued by individual panels of the same division reflect conflicting interpretations, or

 upon a proposal presented by the Supreme Court President if final decisions issued by the courts of the Slovak Republic reflect conflicting interpretations.

Division sessions are closed and are chaired by a division presiding judge. A division has a quorum for giving an opinion if at least two thirds of its members are present, in other cases the quorum is represented by a majority of members in attendance. After discussing the submitted document, the division decides by voting. Each member of the division must vote. The decision is adopted through majority vote of the members present. Proponents of defeated opinions may submit written arguments justifying their opinions.

Opinions shall be issued in writing and filed. An identical copy will be submitted to the President of the Supreme Court, all division members, the Minister of Justice of the Slovak Republic and the Office of Prosecutor-General of the Slovak Republic and to other bodies whose opinions were solicited. The presiding judge of a division may submit an identical copy of the opinion to the courts of the Slovak Republic, depending on the circumstances, significance or need.

Full Supreme Court

The Full Supreme Court is composed of the President, Vice-President and all the Supreme Court judges. It is convened by the president, who also sets the agenda for the plenary discussions and chairs the meeting.

Full Supreme Court sessions are closed. The Full Supreme Court has a quorum if at least two thirds of its members are present.

The Full Supreme Court :

 adopts the rules of procedure of the Supreme Court and decides on alternations and amendments thereof ;

 gives opinions aimed at unifying the interpretation of laws and other generally binding legal regulations in those areas that are of concern to or disputed among several divisions, or relating to final decisions of the courts of the Slovak Republic ;

 discusses reports on the effects of laws and other generally binding legal regulations and, on the basis thereof, presents motions for new legislation.

The Full Supreme Court has a quorum for making final decisions when at least two thirds of all its judges are present. The Full Supreme Court adopts resolutions by majority voting of judges in attendance, including temporarily assigned judges. Each judge must take part in the voting. Full court members whose opinions were defeated may submit written arguments justifying their opinions. The full court shall decide about the extent and the manner of the publication of the resolution.

The President of the Supreme Court carries out his judicial role within the Supreme Court jurisdiction by :

 performing judicial functions within the Supreme Court jurisdiction in accordance with the work schedule as presiding jugde of a panel or as a judge ;

 submitting , based on the Full Supreme Court decision, motions for new legislation to the National Council of the Slovak Republic (the legislative body – Parliament of the Republic) or to other competent bodies ;

 recommending that the Minister of Justice integrate the knowledge obtained in the decision-making activities of the Supreme Court into the professional training of regional and district court judges.

The President of the Supreme Court also performs state administration tasks in the Court by :

 securing proper functioning of the Supreme Court form the personnel, organizational, economic and financial points of view ;

 securing professional training of judges and other court employees ;

 presenting motions for disciplinary proceedings against Supreme Court judges ;

 securing dignified and smooth court proceedings and observation of judicial ethics at the Supreme Courts ;

 and by handling complaints concerning delays in proceedings or improper conduct and/or disturbance of the dignity of judicial proceedings by the Vice-President, judges and other staff members of the Supreme Court.

The President of the Supreme Court has the discretion to discuss decisions which concern the performance of his judicial function with the court management, which, apart from him, includes the Deputy President of the Supreme Court and the presiding judges of the Supreme Court divisions.

Vice-President of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court divisions also review

The Vice-President of the Supreme Court carries out his judicial role within the Supreme Court jurisdiction in harmony with the work schedule as the presiding judge of a panel or as a judge. The President may entrust him with the exercise of certain rights and obligations that pertain to him. In the absence of the President the Vice-President holds all the powers of the former and fulfills all his obligations.