Gal: Election of Candidates for Constitutional Court Not Easy Process

Bratislava, April 15 (TASR) - Justice Minister Gabor Gal (Most-Hid) stated on Monday that the election of candidates for the Constitutional Court isn't a easy process and that it also depends on agreement on the vote, adding that Parliament needs to have a sufficient number of quality candidates. "When we discussed whether judges at the Constitutional Court should be elected by 90 votes, I said that it would be difficult to find 76 votes, and unfortunately my statement has come true," said Gal. Gal daren't say whether the quality of the candidates has been dropping, but he noted that their number is decreasing. According to Gal, the president in the past didn't adhere to "Constitutional custom", which states that he should wait for the full number of candidates to be presented to him before appointing judges. "On one hand, the Constitution states that Parliament should present double the amount of candidates to the president; on the other, the same Constitution states that the president should ensure that public authorities function properly. This is the thing we need: to have at least seven judges at the Court so that they can hold plenary sessions, that's the direction I would pursue..." said Gal. The deadline for submitting candidate bids has been set at 4 p.m. on Monday (April 15). The next vote is supposed to take place at the parliamentary session beginning on May 9. zel/df