Kolikova Calls on Justice Minister to Continue Judicial Reform

Bratislava, November 13 (TASR) - Ex-minister of justice and vice-chair of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party Maria Kolikova at a news conference on Wednesday called on Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) to continue the judicial reform. At the same time, she rejected claims that her reform would cause delays in court proceedings. "I am calling on the justice minister to continue the reform and complete it. It is important that we consistently bring the whole reform to the end. Only then will we have decisions in a short time," stressed Kolikova, adding there's no evidence that the reform would bring protractions in court proceedings. Rather the opposite, the statistics show a trend of speeding up proceedings, she added. The result of the reform is, among other things, the specialisation of judges. "More than 90 percent of judges are specialised," noted Kolikova. According to her, there's an above-average number of judges in Slovakia compared to other countries. Therefore, she doesn't see the way in increasing their number. Following the meeting of the Association of Slovak Judges (ZSS) held at Strbske Pleso last week, Susko stated that the ex-minister Kolikova's reform has brought no positives and, therefore, the ministry is preparing changes [to it]. ko/mcs