The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic is the highest juridical authority in the Slovakia and is based in Bratislava. It was established on 1 January 1993,[1] following the division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.[2] The court is the ultimate appeals court for the lower courts within Slovakia.[1]
Appointment
The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of the Slovak Republic after being seen as qualified enough by the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic.[1] Any person who has fulfilled 30 years of age, is in possession of a master's degree in law and agrees to accept the post of a judge at Supreme Court after having passed the electoral process, may qualify for the post.[1]
Roles
It is the appeals court for the regional and district courts as well as for the Slovak military courts.[3] The court decides in panels composed by three or five judges.[3] The three member panels decide on the matters regarding the lower courts.[3] The five member panel decides on matters which concern verdicts of courts composed by the three member panels of the Supreme Court.[3]
Judges and panels
The court has four divisions, which are the Criminal Division, the Administrative Division, the Civil Division and the Commercial Division.[1] Each division includes an amount of panels with three members.[1] The Commercial Division has fourteen judges serving in eight panels, the Administrative Division has twenty-eight judges and twelve panels, the civil division has twenty-nine judges and 8 panels, and the Criminal Division has nineteen judges and eight panels.[1]
Controversy
In October 2020, Supreme Court judges Jarmila Urbancová and Jozef Kolcon were accused of corruption and arrested.[4]