Justice Minister Mária Koliková (For the People) has publicly presented her great reform plan of a new court map for Slovakia. The main goal of the reform is to specialize judges and to improve the quality of court verdicts. However, in the longer term the new reorganization of courts will result in faster and more predictable court decisions. It should also help reduce the risk of corrupt links in the judiciary.
The Justice Ministry proposes to divide the map of general courts into thirty districts of first instance courts, including two municipal courts in Bratislava and Košice, and three districts of courts of appeal. The seats of general courts of appeal should be established in the seats of the existing regional courts: in Prešov for the region of eastern Slovakia, in Banská Bystrica for central Slovakia, and in Trnava for western Slovakia. "We propose addressing the complex business agenda with causal jurisdiction in three general first instance courts in the seats of the courts of appeal: in Prešov, Banská Bystrica, and Trnava. For part of the business agenda, we propose to establish a fourth district in the territory of the Bratislava Municipal Court, in accordance with the importance of the capital and the scope of the agenda. We are proposing a single business register in Slovakia," the Justice Minister explained. Administrative courts should be separated from the general judiciary and located in three districts. The proposed seats of the first instance administrative courts are in Nitra, Zilina, and Košice.
The Justice Ministry would like to establish the seat of the Supreme Administrative Court in Bratislava, with one district for the whole of Slovakia. The Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and Specialized Criminal Court will remain unchanged, with one district for the whole of Slovakia. The specialization of judges is presumed for criminal, civil, family and commercial agenda in general courts, and for administrative agenda in the separate administrative judiciary.
