Exchange of knowledge and experience in judicial practice from Greece and Slovakia during an internship

In October, Eirini Spanaki from the Council of State of the Hellenic Republic completed a one-week internship at the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic. The internship took place within the framework of the internship programme of International Association of Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions (IASAJ) – Najvyšší správny súd Slovenskej republiky (IASAJ), of which the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic is a member since 2022.

Eirini Spanaki was welcomed at the Supreme Administrative Court by its Vice-President Marián Trenčan. At the beginning of her internship, Eirini Spanaki was introduced to the functioning of the administrative justice system in Slovakia, with an emphasis on the status and competence of the Supreme Administrative Court.

In addition to working meetings with the judges of the Supreme Administrative Court, Eirini Spanaki attended a number of other professional meetings, including at the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic, the Office of the Public Defender of Rights, the Public Procurement office and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Slovak Republic. As Eirini Spanaki’s primary focus is on tax issues, in the second half of her internship she also met with a representative of the Slovak Association of Tax Advisors.

A visit to the Judicial Academy of the Slovak Republic in Pezinok brought the system of judicial education and training for the judicial profession closer to the Slovak Republic. The meeting also provided an opportunity to compare the Greek and Slovak judicial education systems. Eirini Spanaki also visited the Faculty of Law of Comenius University, where she met with law students and academics of the Faculty, to whom she presented the system of Greek administrative law and her work in the Council of State of the Hellenic Republic.

At the end of the internship, Eirini Spanaki, in her lecture and subsequent discussion, introduced the judges and assistant judges of the Supreme Administrative Court to the system of administrative law in her home country. Photo © Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic.

The Supreme Administrative Court participates in the internship exchange programme as a member country of the International Association of Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions IASAJ and as a member country of ACA-Europe – Najvyšší správny súd Slovenskej republiky (ACA-Europe). Within the framework of international cooperation, the local court both sends judges and receives judges for internships from other member countries of these associations.