Dismissals of the Court Presidents in the Visegrad Group Countries in the Light of Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights
Roč.33,č.3(2025)
The dismissals of the court presidents have been an issue of considerable controversy in several European jurisdictions, notably in the Visegrad Group countries (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia). On the one hand, these actions might be perceived as a potential threat to the independence of the judiciary. Still, on the other hand, the premature termination of the court president’s mandate may prove necessary under certain circumstances. The article explores the common problems that have arisen in the V4 states and the guarantees stemming from Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights. It provides an insight into the domestic removal mechanisms. Based on the existing ECtHR case-law, the positive duties of the States are further reconstructed with regard to the dismissals of the court presidents. The article also includes several proposals for solving specific problems that the Court has not directly addressed. Furthermore, it lists the criteria to be met by the High Contracting Parties so that the national practices regarding dismissal proceedings fully comply with the Convention.
Court Presidents; Judicial Independence; Independent and Impartial Tribunal; Fair Trial; Removal Decisions; Transmission Belts; European Court of Human Rights; Visegrad Group
427–450
BLISA, A., KOSAŘ, D. Court Presidents: The Missing Piece in the Puzzle of Judicial Governance. German Law Journal. 2018, Vol. 19, no. 7, pp. 2041–2075. ISSN 2071-8322. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200023324
BOBEK, M. The Administration of Courts in the Czech Republic – In Search of a Constitutional Balance. European Public Law. 2010, Vol. 16, no. 2, p. 258. ISSN 1354-3725. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54648/euro2010018
CLAYTON, R., TOMLINSON, H. Fair Trial Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 82–83. ISBN 0199246343. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199246342.001.0001
GERSDORF, M., PILICH, M. Judges and Representatives of the People: a Polish Perspective, European Constitutional Law Review. 2020, Vol. 16, no. 3, p. 358. ISSN 1744-5515. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1574019620000206
GRAJEWSKI, K. Dysfunctionality of the National Council of the Judiciary in the Polish Constitutional System After Statutory Changes. Gdańskie Studia Prawnicze. 2020, Vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 161–167. ISSN 1734-5669. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26881/gsp.2020.4.12
GYULAVÁRI, T., HŐS, N. Retirement of Hungarian Judges, Age Discrimination and Judicial Independence: A Tale of Two Courts. Industrial Law Journal. 2013, Vol. 42, no. 3, p. 289–297. ISSN 1464-3669. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwt010
HALMAI, G. The Early Retirement Age of the Hungarian Judges. In: NICOLA, F., DAVIES, B. (eds.). EU Law Stories. Contextual and Critical Histories of European Jurisprudence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017, pp. 471–488. ISBN 9781316340479. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316340479.024
HARRIS, D., O’BOYLE, M., BATES, E., BUCKLEY, C. Law of the European Convention on Human Rights. 3. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 285–286. ISBN 9780199606399.
HIRSCHL, R. The Question of Case Selection in Comparative Constitutional Law. American Journal of Comparative Law. 2005, Vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 132–139. ISSN 0002919X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcl/53.1.125
KLOTH, M. Immunities and the Right of Access to Court Under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Leiden: Brill, 2010, pp. 9–11, ISBN 978-90-04-18990-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004181847.i-220
KOSAŘ, D. Politics of Judicial Independence and Judicial Accountability in Czechia: Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law between Court Presidents and the Ministry of Justice. European Constitutional Law Review. 2017, Vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 105–108. ISSN 1744-5515. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1574019616000419
KOSAŘ, D., LIXINSKI, L. Domestic Judicial Design by International Human Rights Courts, American Journal of International Law. 2015, Vol. 109, no. 4, pp. 729–741. ISSN 0002-9300. DOI https://doi.org/10.5305/amerjintelaw.109.4.0713
KOSAŘ, D., ŠIPULOVÁ, K. The Strasbourg Court Meets Abusive Constitutionalism: Baka v. Hungary and the Rule of Law. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law. 2017, Vol. 10, no. 1, p. 87. ISSN 1876-4053. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-017-0065-y
KOSAŘ, D., ŠIPULOVÁ, K. Judicial Empowerment of Chief Justices in Central Europe through Supranational Means: Judicial Self-Defense or Judicial Self-Dealing? International Journal of Constitutional Law. 2025, Vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 279–297. ISSN 1474-2640. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/moaf017
LELOUP, M. Who Safeguards the Guardians? A Subjective Right of Judges to their Independence under Article 6(1) ECHR, European Constitutional Law Review. 2021, Vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 406–414. ISSN 1574-0196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1574019621000286
LELOUP, M. Not Just a Simple Civil Servant: The Right of Access to a Court of Judges in the Recent Case Law of the ECtHR. European Convention on Human Rights Law Review. 2023, Vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 43–44. ISSN 2666-3228. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10055
MARKOVITS, I. Children of a Lesser God: GDR Lawyers in Post-Socialist Germany, Michigan Law Review. 1996, Vol. 94, no. 7, p. 2292. ISSN 0026-2234. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1289821
MATUSIK, T. Targeting Disciplinary Courts. Why Hungary Is on the Verge of a Full-scale Judicial Capture. Verfassungsblog [online]. 16. 1. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59704/e4efc1a09b94c193
MOLITERNO, J. E., ČUROŠ, P. Recent Attacks on Judicial Independence: The Vulgar, the Systemic, and the Insidious. German Law Journal. 2021, Vol. 22, no. 7, p. 1171. ISSN 2071-8322. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2021.63
MUSCALU, E. Managerial Approach on the Role and Responsibility of the Presidents of the Court and the Individual Performance of Judges. Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Economics. 2014, Vol. 164, no. 11, pp. 87–89. ISSN 1728-3817. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17721/1728-2667.2014/164-11/15
RAINEY, B., WICKS, E., OVEY, C. Jacobs, White, and Ovey: The European Convention on Human Rights. 7. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017, pp. 278–284. ISBN 9780198767749. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198767749.001.0001
SCHABAS, W.A. The European Convention on Human Rights. A Commentary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017, p. 274. ISBN 9780199594061.
SILLEN, J. The concept of ‘internal judicial independence’ in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. European Constitutional Law Review. 2019, Vol. 15, no. 1, p. 112. ISSN 1574-0196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1574019619000014
ŚLEDZIŃSKA-SIMON, A. The Rise and Fall of Judicial Self-Government in Poland. German Law Journal. 2018, Vol. 19, no. 7, p. 1857. ISSN 2071-8322. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200023257
SPÁČ, S., ŠIPULOVÁ, K., URBÁNIKOVÁ, M. Capturing the Judiciary from Inside: The Story of Judicial Self-Governance in Slovakia. German Law Journal. 2018, Vol. 19, no. 7, p. 1746. ISSN 2071-8322. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200023221
SZENTE, Z. Stepping Into the Same River Twice? Judicial Independence in Old and New Authoritarianism. German Law Journal. 2021, Vol. 22, no. 7, p. 1323. ISSN: 2071-8322. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2021.69
ŠIPULOVÁ, K., SPÁČ, S., KOSAŘ, D., PAPOUŠKOVÁ, T., DERKA, V. Judicial Self-Governance Index: Towards better understanding of the role of judges in governing the judiciary, Regulation & Governance. 2023, Vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 22–38. ISSN 1748-5991. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12453
ŠTIAVNICKÝ, J., STEUER, M. The Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic: The many faces of law-making by a constitutional court with extensive review powers’. In: FLORCZAK-WĄTOR, M. (ed.). Judicial Law-Making in European Constitutional Courts. Milton Park: Routledge, 2020, p. 190. ISBN 9781003022442. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003022442-13
VINCZE, A. Dismissal of the President of the Hungarian Supreme Court: ECtHR Judgment Baka v. Hungary. European Public Law. 2015, Vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 445– 456. ISSN 1354-3725. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54648/euro2015024
ZHOLOBOV, Y. B., KORNEV, V. N. Legal status of the president of the court as a judge and organizer of judicial activities: Structure and models, Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University Law. 2021, Vol. 12, no. 4, p. 931. ISSN 2587-5833 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu14.2021.407
Tato práce je licencována pod Mezinárodní licencí Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 .
Copyright © 2025 Jan Denka