Slovenia

Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije

Branko Masleša, President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, Supreme Court Judge - Councillor

President since: November 23, 2010

Justice of the supreme court since: February 18, 2000

After graduating in 1975 from the Faculty of Law at the University of Sarajevo, he worked as a deputy public prosecutor at the Municipal Public Prosecutor's Office II in Sarajevo until 1980. He was elected as a judge in the Criminal department of the Basic Court in Koper on April 1, 1980, where he later became the head of the department. On October 18, 1984, he was elected to the position of a judge at Higher Court in Koper, and ten years later, on October 18, 1994, he was reelected as a higher court judge at the same court with a permanent mandate. From 1994 to 2000 he has held the position of the Head of the Criminal department at the Higher Court in Koper. He participated as a rapporteur in the decision-making process for appeals in criminal and economic-criminal, occasionally also commercial matters. He also conducted seminars on the subject of the Penal Justice. During the period from 1994 to 1998, he was a member of the Staff Council. From the beginning of computerisation of court work in 1986, he was also responsible for computer supported informatization of the Higher Court in Koper. Since 1999, he has lectured at judicial schools on Penal Justice. He has also lectured on those aspects of the Criminal Procedure Act relevant for candidates to court expert and court appraiser positions. On February 18, 2000, he was appointed as a Supreme Court Judge for the Supreme Court's Criminal department. During the period from 2002 to 2009, he was a member of the Supreme Court Staff Council; in 2008 and 2009, he also held the position of President of the Supreme Court Staff Council. From 2000 to 2002, he was President of the First Instance Disciplinary Court for judges and state prosecutors, while in 2003 and 2004 he was disciplinary prosecutor for judges and President of the Second Instance Disciplinary Court for lawyers and notaries. In 2004, he became the deputy head of the Supreme Court's Criminal department. Branko Masleša served as the president of the Judicial Council from July 2, 2009 until December 2010. He was elected as the President of the Supreme Court on November 23, 2010.

Branko Masleša participated in the drafting of the topical commentary on the Criminal Procedure Act, in the preparation of research entitled "Deviations in Slovenia 100 years ago" and in the project entitled "Substantive Criminal Law – Judicature of the Slovenian Courts". He is also an author of several scholarly articles.