Slovak govt approves judicial reform

The government approved on Wednesday a judicial reform, which introduces checks into assets owned by judges, changes to the makeup of the Constitutional Court and Judicial Council as well as establishes the Supreme Administration Court, TASR learnt. Under the new constitutional amendments, half of the Judicial Council should be staffed by non-judges. The president, government and Parliament could nominate only non-judge members. Furthermore, a regional principle is to be introduced into the election of judge members, by dividing the available seats among electoral districts and reserving a separate district for representatives of the Supreme Court.