Caputova: Election of Constitutional Judges Better Public; Sefcovic Disagrees

Bratislava, March 23 (TASR) - Presidential election finalists Zuzana Caputova and Maros Sefcovic in a debate on RTVS on Saturday differed in opinions on whether elections of candidates for Constitutional Court judges should be public or not. Candidates for Constitutional Court judges in Slovakia are elected by Parliament, with the country's president selecting some of them to actually appoint them for the court. According to Caputova, elections of constitutional judges in Parliament aren't "actions of public law", which should be secret in line with the Constitution, but "actions of public power", which should be subject to more transparency. Conversely, Sefcovic advocated secret elections of constitutional judges. "This is partly because Constitutional Court judges will have their say in such issues as the future of some political parties," said Sefcovic, adding that judges shouldn't feel to be committed to individual MPs. bub