Judicial Council

Ljubljana – Maja Brkan was endorsed as Slovenia’s nominee for a judge on the General Court of the European Union in a near unanimous vote at the National Assembly on Wednesday. She will now need to pass an assessment by the court’s vetting body to get appointed.

Ljubljana – Following consultations with parliamentary deputy groups, President Borut Pahor announced on Thursday that he would nominate Maja Brkan for Slovenian judge on the General Court of the European Union. Extra consultations are however needed on candidates for the EU Court of Justice.

Bulgaria's ruling GERB party was called upon by the Venice Commission to remove the untouchability of the prosecutor general after its members carried out a quick review of the draft "new constitution" of the government. This is the fourth consecutive analysis of the Bulgarian law carried out by the authoritative international commission, which leads up to such a call.

"The Constitutional Court must adapt itself to these conditions as well. Concerning any regulation that someone deems unconstitutional, it can take the initiative," he said.

Denis Preshovа, assistant constitutional law professor at Sts Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, agreed.

Montenegro has made no progress on the composition or independence of its Judicial Council, the body charged with upholding the independence and autonomy of courts in Montenegro. Nor has it made any progress in reviewing its disciplinary framework for judges, the report of the Group of States Against Corruption, GRECO, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption monitoring body, says.

In one case, a lay judge failed to declare that she was the sister of the defence lawyer. The resignation or retirement of a lay judge, by law, returns the trial to the beginning, costing often months or even years of court time.

Dealing a death blow to a trial of the fugitive former prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, the main judge in the case codenamed TNT, Ognen Stavrev, on Monday said jury member Lijana Ivanovska Kockovska had resigned, rendering the entire process null and void.

Stavrev scheduled a new start for the trial on Tuesday, warning defence lawyers not to try to stall the case any further.

The high-profile trial in which former premier Nikola Gruevski is accused of ordering a political opponent's building to be demolished out of revenge may have to start all over again next year as the court failed to wrap it up by Tuesday before one of the judges retires, possibly rendering the entire process so far null and void.

For over one year the Novartis affair has fueled constant political tensions and it will be a central issue in the forthcoming general election, which is to be held by October at latest.

To Vima on Sunday reported yesterday that Corruption Prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki (photo) has told the Judicial Council that she expects the case to be wrapped up within the next six months.

Courts in the north of Kosovo are plagued with stalled trials and postponed hearings, which some blame on a backlog of cases and lack of translators, while others claim that the courts themselves are not doing enough.