SLOVAK JUSTICE: THE SITUATION IS CRITICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRATISLAVA 000166 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE, INL/C NSC FOR HOVENIER DOJ FOR OPDAT NICK ACKER E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2019 TAGS: PGOV LO SUBJECT: SLOVAK JUSTICE: THE SITUATION IS CRITICAL REF: A) BRATISLAVA 47 B) 08 BRATISLAVA 407 C) 08 BRATISLAVA 334 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Keith Eddins, reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (U) Please see action request in paragraph 11. ¶2. (C) Introduction and Summary. Since the Fico Government came to power in 2006, the state of the Slovak Judiciary has declined precipitously. As we have previously reported, one of the most serious problems is the Justice Minister himself. Stefan Harabin is a HZDS appointee whose most important function appears to be that of protecting prominent government figures, such as his patron Vladimir Meciar, from the long arm of the law. To that end, Harabin has worked tirelessly to shutter the Special Court on Corruption, to undo criminal code reforms and to concentrate more power in his own hands. Parliament will soon consider Harabin's proposal to shift key functions from the Ministry of Justice to the Judicial Council and its Chairman (who is also the Chairman of the Supreme Court). It is common knowledge that Harabin expects to re-assume this role after the 2010 elections, if not earlier. He has already cleared the way for this move by using the Judicial Council to stymie the re-appointment of the most recent Supreme Court chief. Thus, even as he shifts from the MOJ to the Court, he would retain significant control of the Slovak judiciary well into the next decade. ¶3. (C) Also of concern is the declining quality and integrity of the bench. Thanks to Harabin, several judges who have been disciplined or dismissed in the past are wearing judges' robes again, and recent judicial nominations give the appearance that a close connection to HZDS figures is a main criterion for a judicial appointment. Finally, the pervasive use of disciplinary hearings to intimidate judges who don't share Harabin's views has sidelined some of Slovakia's best judges and cowed many others into silence. Perhaps the only bright spot on the horizon is a nascent effort among a few dozen judges and members of the NGO community to shine a spotlight on the problems and to create a viable alternative to the Slovak Judges' Association, which has maintained virtual silence in the face of Harabin's attacks on respected jurists and institutions. We believe the time has has come to urge the Slovak Government to take a hard look at the consequences of Harabin's actions. End Introduction and Summary. Power Grab (the latest) -------------- ¶4. (C) On March 25, the Slovak Government approved Justice Minister Harabin's latest proposal ostensibly aimed at increasing the independence of the judiciary. The law, which is slated to go into effect on January 1, 2011, would transfer key competencies from the Justice Ministry to the Judicial Council and its Chairman (who is also the Chairman of the Supreme Court). Most significantly, it would give the Judicial Council the authority to suspend or remove judges from the bench and to reinstate them. Initially, both the Interior Ministry and the General Prosecutor's office were critical of the proposed changes. General Prosecutor Trnka warned that the draft would result in the "uneven concentration of power in the hands of the Chairman of the Judicial Council." In response to Trnka's concerns, the draft was revised to empower the Judicial Council (comprised of 18 judges) -- not its Chairman -- to recall judges. ¶5. (C) Given the relationship between the Judicial Council and Minister Harabin -- the Council has become a combination rubber stamp/cheering section for the Minister -- several legal experts assert that the root cause of Trnka's stated concerns remains. Former Justice Minister and SDKU MP Lucia Zitnanska excoriated Harabin for what she termed a blatant power grab. Harabin immediately fired back, accusing Zitnanska of amnesia, as she had earlier condemned his moves to strengthen the Ministry of Justice i.e., himself. He added that Zitnanska's comments were a smokescreen to distract from the emerging leadership fight in SDKU (septel). Parliament will take up the bill in its next session. Harabin's Pearls -------------- ¶6. (C) Minister Harabin, infamous (at least in some circles) for his crude verbal attacks against his predecessor, has been prolific of late. During a recent meeting of regional BRATISLAVA 00000166 002 OF 003 court judges, he accused Judge Darina Kuchtova, who was found guilty by a disciplinary senate of having damaged a fellow judge because of her sworn testimony in a court case, of behaving like an SS Stormtrooper. At another widely attended meeting, Harabin ridiculed the Special Court against Corruption: "Co-rup-tion," he stated slowly, claiming that the judges of the Special Court are under police control. (Note: Special Court opponents argue that the Special Court judges' independence is compromised because they must have security clearances. End Note.) He continued that "they said the Special Court was created because other judges were corrupt. However, having salaries 6 times higher than other judges is the greatest form of stated corruption. They were corrupt, they are corrupt." The Dregs Are Back, and on the Attack -------------- ¶7. (C) Two formerly disgraced judges, Jozef Sorocina and Pavol Polka -- both close to Harabin -- have taken advantage of Harabin's position to launch attacks against other judges, as well as the media. Polka was the petitioner in the disciplinary hearing against Kuchtova, while Sorocina has launched a vendetta against a fellow judge from Michalovce, who, Sorocina's lawyer claims, is at fault because he had the temerity to comment on disciplinary proceedings against his superior. The judge, Stanislav Sojka, has been on suspension since June 2008. He wrote to President Gasparovic to protest what he regarded as unfair treatment. Subsequently, Sorocina's lawyer obtained a copy of the letter and used it to justify a request to initiate yet another disciplinary proceeding against Sojka. ¶8. (C) Via libel suits and other complaints, the pockets of Harabin and his cronies are being amply lined; in at least two cases, the Ministry itself will compensate Harabin's friends, Sorocina and MOJ State Secretary Daniel Hudak. In both cases the awards are for damages to their reputations as a result of disciplinary hearings instituted against them by former Justice Minister Lipsic. Harabin himself has won three large libel awards within the last year. Judge Sorocina also was awarded 30,000 Euro in damages from a radio station whose reporter had merely paraphrased remarks by then-Interior Minister Palko about an investigation into alleged corruption on Sorocina's part. ¶9. (C) And thanks to Harabin's recent amendments to the law on judges, several judges who have been convicted of corruption charges will be able to return to the bench as of January 1, 2010. In addition to the return of questionable jurists, many legal analysts and opposition politicians are raising questions about newly-nominated judges. One such case is that of Banska Bystrica lawyer, Milan Antal. Antal admits to be having friendly relations with a former policemen who was recently convicted of murder. Antal is also accused by another lawyer of having been complicit in an incident involving the robbery and torture of a Banska Bystrica couple. While we have no way of evaluating the validity of the latter allegation, the questions surrounding Antal's nomination suggest that the bar for the selection of judges has been lowered significantly under Harabin. A Small Ray of Hope, and a Serious Threat -------------- ¶10. (C) Comment and Action Request: Developments in the judiciary are attracting increasing attention and concern among NGOs, the media and politicians. Two NGOs focused on rule of law have begun to look for ways to shine a spotlight on the problems, including through the creation of internet portals dedicated to open exchange of information on rule of law issues. Judge Kuchtova recently told us that a group of about 20 like-minded judges and lawyers had begun to gather periodically to consider how to fight the disturbing trends. Former Justice Minister Zitnanska agreed that key segments of Slovak society have begun to focus on the judicial sector, but she fears the nascent activism may be too little, too late. According to Zitnanska, once Harabin's draft law is passed (and she believes it will be, barring effective intervention wtih senior government officials),it will be virtually impossible to undo. Harabin is thus poised to gain almost complete control of the judiciary for years to come. ¶11. (C) We believe the consequences of this legislation for rule of law in Slovakia are serious. Charge intends to approach like-minded diplomatic colleagues, e.g., the UK and Dutch Ambassadors, to propose a joint approach to PM Fico. As friends and allies of Slovakia, our basic argument would be that Fico should not allow coalition politics -- in this case BRATISLAVA 00000166 003 OF 003 the need to satisfy and protect his notorious predecessor, Vladimir Meciar -- to undermine the many advances Slovakia has made since the Meciar era. Our case would be greatly strengthened if Charge could present a letter from a senior USG official, e.g., the Vice President or the Attorney General, articulating our concerns. We will follow-up with Washington agencies regarding this request. End Comment and Action Request. EDDINS