Future judges and prosecutors from European Union countries from the AIAKOS program were interested in practical issues of administrative justice in Slovakia

The second part of the AIAKOS program participants, consisting of judicial assistants and senior court officials from Slovakia, France, Italy, Belgium and Romania with an interest in administrative law, visited the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic on November 20, 2025.

The Vice-President of the Supreme Administrative Court, Marián Trenčan, and judicial assistant Soňa Cigániková first introduced them to the basic circumstances of the establishment of an independent judicial system focused specifically on administrative proceedings, including the Supreme Administrative Court itself, and also explained to them the general principles and specifics of administrative justice.

In the subsequent discussion, the participants of the AIAKOS program expressed interest in several practical issues of the exercise of administrative justice in our country. For example, they asked about how to proceed in the case of individuals who are not satisfied with the actions of public authorities, or what exactly can be imagined under this or that agenda of the Supreme Administrative Court. The participants of the AIAKOS program were also keenly interested in the course of proceedings at the Supreme Administrative Court, specific aspects of the work of judges, the method of studying files and the steps that the panels take before the start of the hearing. Marián Trenčan and Soňa Cigániková explained to them the specifics of decision-making using practical examples. The future European judges and prosecutors also directed their questions specifically to the work of the competence panel or disciplinary proceedings, where they also asked about a possible conflict of interest if local judges had to deal with a disciplinary proposal against their own colleague.

The Vice-President of the Supreme Administrative Court Marián Trenčan and judicial assistant Soňa Cigániková during discussion with the participants of the AIAKOS program. Photo © Supreme Administrative Court od the Slovak Republic.

The aim of the AIAKOS exchange program organized by the Judicial Academy of the Slovak Republic in cooperation with the European Judicial Training Network is the cooperation of future judges and prosecutors from various European Union countries.