The Council of Europe’s anti-corruption watchdog, GRECO, in a report published today, welcomes the Slovenian Constitutional Court’s decisions that parliamentary inquiries into particular judicial proceedings and decisions by judges and prosecutors were unconstitutional as they risked violating judicial independence.
GRECO launched the ad hoc procedure[1] in June 2019 and was in close dialogue with the authorities of Slovenia on several occasions, warning of the risks of interference with judicial independence should the inquiries go ahead. Following decisions of the Constitutional Court in 2021 declaring the inquiries unconstitutional, these were annulled. GRECO also notes in the report that the Constitutional Court has called on the Slovenian Parliament to establish additional safeguards and remedies so as to prevent such infringements in the future.
The adoption of GRECO’s report closes the ad hoc procedure in respect of Slovenia as the issue at stake has been dealt with in an exhaustive way, according to GRECO; the inquiries concerned were annulled and the principle of judicial independence under the Constitution of Slovenia has been clarified.
* unofficial translation, as provided by the authorities of Slovenia
[1] If GRECO receives reliable information indicating that an institutional reform, legislative initiative or procedural change in a member State may result in serious violation of a Council of Europe anti-corruption standard which has been the subject of any GRECO evaluation round, it may decide to launch an Ad Hoc (Rule 34) procedure.
