A judge of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic has his salary reduced for violation of judicial ethics

According to the disciplinary panel of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, the disciplinary defendant Juraj Kliment, as a judge of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, violated the duty of a judge to refrain from any conduct in civil life that could undermine the dignity and respect of the office of a judge and also the duty to observe the principles of judicial ethics. For this, the Supreme Administrative Court imposed a disciplinary measure in the form of a 50 % reduction in his salary for a period of three months (Case No. 32 D 16/2023).

The disciplinary panel found the judge guilty of committing a serious disciplinary offence when, during a clash in a parking lot with another judge of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, he reacted violently and inappropriately to a situation that had arisen after their previous collisions via personal motor vehicles. The seriousness of his conduct is underlined by the fact that it took place in a place open to the public.

The disciplinary panel stated that the manner of the act itself, which fulfilled the factual essence of the disciplinary offence, namely the violation of the dignity and respectability of the office of judge and the violation of the principles of judicial ethics in the form of a physical attack by a judge on another judge, when at the same time the attack took place in a public place, sufficiently justifies the legal qualification of the act as a serious disciplinary offence. Although the disciplinary panel accepted that a judge is also a human being with emotions, the very function of a judge and its attributes require, in the opinion of the panel, an even higher level of control, especially in a public space.

The disciplinary panel also stressed in connection with the seriousness of the disciplinary defendant’s actions that the disciplinary defendant is a long-standing judge of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, which implies that he should act as a natural authority and role model not only for the judges of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, but also for the judges of lower courts, not only in his decision-making activities, but also in his everyday life. The disciplinary panel found that the conduct of the disciplinary defendant did not contribute to the credibility of the judiciary but, on the contrary, was capable of seriously endangering and undermining the public confidence in the judiciary.

In the opinion of the disciplinary panel, the imposition of a disciplinary sanction in the form of a reduction of 50% of the functional salary for a period of three months serves both a punitive and a preventive purpose in relation to the disciplinary defendant.

There is no remedy against this decision.

The decision of the disciplinary panel was adopted by a vote of 5:0.

In the disciplinary case of the President of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, the Judicial Council of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic c/a Judge JUDr. Juraj Kliment, the decision was taken by panel No. 32 of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, composed of: the President of the panel, JUDr. Anita Filová (judge-rapporteur); the judges, prof. JUDr. Peter Potásch, PhD. and Mgr. Kristína Babiaková.; lay judges JUDr. Lucia Matyšáková and doc. JUDr. Martina Jánošíková, PhD.