The Constitutional Court is considering the submission of the Supreme Court regarding the reform of the High Council of Justice

On February 14, on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court will return to consideration of the constitutional submission regarding the reform of the High Council of Justice, which the Supreme Court proposes to recognise as unconstitutional.

In 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court, on the proposal of the previous composition of the HCJ, made a submission to the Constitutional Court regarding the unconstitutionality of the reform. It was about the Ethic Council’s vetting of the then-current members of the HCJ and the selection of candidates for vacant positions. For the “judge bosses”, this meant the loss of control over the HCJ and, accordingly, the impossibility of influencing the career of judges.

The Constitutional Court brought DEJURE Foundation to participate in the case. We submitted our legal opinion to the Constitutional Court, in which we refuted all the Supreme Court’s arguments and substantiated the law’s constitutionality. Tomorrow, at the hearing, our representative will be convincing the judges of the Constitutional Court that the position of the Supreme Court is unfounded.

This case only again illustrates the importance of the independent Constitutional Court that can protect institutional reforms designed to preserve democracy and protect human rights.