The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic is the highest juridical authority in the Slovakia and is based in Bratislava. It was established on 1 January 1993, [1] following the division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. [2] The court is the ultimate appeals court for the lower courts within Slovakia. [1]
The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of the Slovak Republic after being seen as qualified enough by the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic. [1] Any person who has fulfilled 30 years of age, is in possession of a master's degree in law and agrees to accept the post of a judge at Supreme Court after having passed the electoral process, may qualify for the post. [1]
It is the appeals court for the regional and district courts as well as for the Slovak military courts. [3] The court decides in panels composed by three or five judges. [3] The three member panels decide on the matters regarding the lower courts. [3] The five member panel decides on matters which concern verdicts of courts composed by the three member panels of the Supreme Court. [3]
The court has four divisions, which are the Criminal Division, the Administrative Division, the Civil Division and the Commercial Division. [1] Each division includes an amount of panels with three members. [1] The Commercial Division has fourteen judges serving in eight panels, the Administrative Division has twenty-eight judges and twelve panels, the civil division has twenty-nine judges and 8 panels, and the Criminal Division has nineteen judges and eight panels. [1]
In October 2020, Supreme Court judges Jarmila Urbancová and Jozef Kolcon were accused of corruption and arrested. [4]