Lay Judges

Disciplinary proceedings and the imposition of disciplinary measures are a form of holding judges, prosecutors, bailiffs, and notaries accountable for breaches of the law in the exercise of public authority. Since December 2021, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic has held jurisdiction over the disciplinary liability of several legal professions.

In first-instance proceedings, the Disciplinary Panel consists of a President of the Disciplinary Panel, one member appointed pursuant to Section 8(2) of Act No. 432/2021 Coll. (the Code of Disciplinary Procedure), and one lay member. In appellate proceedings involving a judge, the Panel consists of a presiding judge, one member pursuant to Section 8(1) of the Code of Disciplinary Procedure, two members pursuant to Section 8(2) thereof, and one lay member. In other appellate cases (concerning prosecutors, notaries, or bailiffs), the Panel comprises a President of the Panel, one member pursuant to Section 8(1), one member pursuant to Section 8(2), and two lay members.

The lay judges of the Disciplinary Panel are always of the same profession as the disciplinary defendant (except in disciplinary cases concerning judges, where the lay judges of the Panel are lawyers from other spheres, such as attorneys or academics). This set-up is intended to guarantee the necessary degree of transparency of the proceedings and the legitimacy of the members of the Disciplinary Panel.

The lay judges shall be selected from databases of lay judges, and databases of lay judges shall be established for the purpose of establishing disciplinary panels from among:

1. prosecutors elected by the Council of Prosecutors of the Slovak Republic,
2. bailiffs elected by the Presidium of the Slovak Panel of Bailiffs,
3. notaries elected by the Presidium of the Panel of Notaries of the Slovak Republic,
4. other persons elected by the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic.

The term of office for a lay member is five years, commencing on the date of their election to the respective database.