Articles for tag: judicial independence, Justizreform, Rechtsstaatlichkeit, Slowakei

Mária Kolíková is leaving

A few weeks ago in Slovakia, after the last step of the reforms of the judiciary structure and the separation of powers was achieved, the coalition crisis broke out in full scope. Furthermore, after a two months long ultimatum, the liberals left the coalition. This step also meant the resignation of the Justice Minister, who was responsible for the judicial reform over the last two years. Now is the right time to summarize how Justice Minister Mária Kolíková succeeded in her efforts to reform the judiciary. This is part I of a two part article on the Slovak reform of the judiciary.

28. September 2022

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The Impossible Art of Populist Government

One year after it was formed, the Slovak government is falling apart. As of 25 March 2021, six out of sixteen ministers have resigned their position. For the moment, the government commands a parliamentary majority and therefore a reshuffle of executive positions is more likely than a snap election. The root of the political crisis is singular: Igor Matovič, the prime minister, is deemed impossible to work with by two out of four coalition parties and an increasing proportion of the broader public. The future of the coalition will to a large extent depend on his willingness to step down from the government.

28. März 2021

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Slovakia’s Democracy and the COVID-19 Pandemic: When Executive Communication Fails

In spring 2020, Slovakia was praised for minimizing the instances of the COVID-19 pandemic. By early 2021, however, with Slovakia among the top five countries with the highest increase of COVID-19-induced death cases, a very different picture has emerged, highlighting the costs of neglecting democracy considerations (encompassing human rights and the rule of law) by the executive in particular. 

9. März 2021

Dissimilar Similarities

In the EU, most attention is paid to the judicial reforms underway in Hungary and Poland, which threaten judicial independence and the rule of law. The concurrent judicial reforms in Norway and Slovakia have received almost no attention. Although quite dissimilar to the former set, the latter underscore that institutional reforms cannot be viewed apart from their social and political settings.

26. November 2020

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Democratic (Dis)Armament

On 3 September 2019, the Slovak Supreme Court ruled against an MP of the far-right political party Kotleba – People’s Party Our Slovakia. Due to the conviction, Mr Mazurek lost his seat and another candidate of the PPOS took his place. Depending on the factors considered, the case can be seen either as armament or as disarmament of democracy in Slovakia.

17. Dezember 2019

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On the Brink of Joining Poland and Hungary: The Night of Surprises in the Slovak Parliament

The relatively short political history of the Slovak parliament has already witnessed several dramatic sessions. The latest drama unfolded during the night of 23 October in a parliamentary session to discuss and vote on an amendment of the Constitution and a new Act on the Constitutional Court that could have put Slovakia on a direct path to follow Hungary and Poland. The night turned out to be full of surprises.

25. Oktober 2018

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Konfiktbereitschaft schafft Vertrauen

Dieser Artikel ist heute in der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung erschienen. Von Maximilian Steinbeis Das Bundesverfassungsgericht ist die Institution, dem die Deutschen am meisten vertrauen. Dieses Vertrauen nimmt gelegentlich Züge innigster Verehrung an, vor allem in diesen Tagen, da es anlässlich seines 60. Geburtstags gelegentlich sogar als „Gnadenort“ und „Wunder von Karlsruhe“ (Heribert Prantl) in die Sphäre des Numinosen erhoben wird. Wissenschaft dient, anders als mancher Journalismus, der Aufklärung, und so wehte denn auch bei einer Konferenz von Politologen und Verfassungsjuristen an der Berliner Humboldt-Universität letzten Freitag zum Thema „Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit in politischen Transformationsprozessen“ ein spürbar kritischerer Geist. Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat keine ... continue reading

28. September 2011

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Ungarn-Slowaken: Ein Hoch auf die Brückenbauer

Slowaken, die eine andere Staatsbürgerschaft annehmen oder auch nur beantragen, verlieren automatisch ihre slowakische Staatsbürgerschaft. So ist es seit letztem Jahr Gesetz in der Slowakei, und dass das so ist, hat mit dem hier schon einige Male gestreiften Thema Ungarn zu tun. Die magyarischen Nachbarn sind bekanntlich seit fast 100 Jahren von heftigen redemptionistischen Fieberschüben geschüttelt: 1919 im Vertrag von Trianon war Groß-Ungarn zerschlagen worden; weite Teile des Territoriums und Hunderttausende ethnische Ungarn wurden Nachbarländern zugeschlagen, darunter auch die Slovakei. Das ist für viele Ungarn, je nationaler, desto doller, immer noch ein Riesenproblem. National ist bekanntlich auch die gegenwärtige Fidesz-Regierung, ... continue reading

18. August 2011

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