Supreme Court quashed conviction of former special prosecutor Kováčik, judge questions panel selection
The Supreme Court has quashed the corruption conviction of Dušan Kováčik. Judge Kliment questioned the procedure for selecting the panel, and SME revealed a change of position at the justice ministry.
Supreme Court quashed conviction of former special prosecutor Kováčik, judge questions panel selection
In late December 2025, the Supreme Court quashed the final conviction of former special prosecutor Dušan Kováčik for accepting a 50,000 euro bribe and remitted the case for further proceedings. The decision triggered a new wave of criticism and questions about the legality of the selection of judges who decided on the extraordinary appeal.
Supreme Court judge Juraj Kliment said in an interview with the Postoj portal that four judges who withdrew from the five-member panel should not have recused themselves without a decision by another panel. The Supreme Court stated that the judges were replaced in accordance with a Constitutional Court ruling intended to prevent judges from deciding on the same legal matter twice.
The newspaper SME published further details about the course of the extraordinary appeal. According to journalists, experts at the justice ministry initially concluded that there were no grounds for filing an extraordinary appeal in Kováčik's favour. However, this recommendation changed during the internal approval process at the ministry, and subsequently Minister Boris Susko (Smer) signed and filed the motion.
Justice ministry spokesperson Barbara Škulová responded that changes to recommendations are part of the standard decision-making process. "It is completely standard that various legal opinions arise during the approval process, recommendations change and proposals are reworked," she said. She added that the minister approved the final legal assessment, which succeeded before the Supreme Court.
Slovak law provides no remedy against a Supreme Court decision on an extraordinary appeal.
Source: The Slovak Spectator
Source: The Slovak Spectator