Two judges who faced a motion for removal from office in disciplinary proceedings have resigned. They are Jan Kušnír from the District Court in Jablonec (OS) and Marcela Buštová from the OS in Mělník. In the case of another judge, Ivy Flaxová from the District Court in Most, who is also threatened with the termination of her position, the disciplinary panel at the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) rejected her objections to the temporary exemption from performance by the Minister of Justice.
Judge Jan Kušnír faced a disciplinary action because of his allegedly rude behavior, which he was supposed to have committed as a creditor while collecting the owed amount. At the same time, the management of the Jablonec court accused him of unauthorized access to judicial databases. His position as a judge expires in May.
In 2006, Jan Kušnír was the subject of a dispute between the then Minister of Justice, Pavel Němec, and the President of the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem, Milan Kohoutek. Minister Němec transferred Kušnír to this court despite the disapproval of Chairman Kohoutek. At that time, Kohoutek justified his disagreement with the insufficient expertise of Judge Kušnír, and Minister Němec, on the other hand, with the fact that the Law on Courts and Judges only requires discussion with the president of the court, not his approval. And if the president of the court has such fundamental reservations regarding his work that in such a case a disciplinary action is filed once morest the judge. It was only following three years that the Supreme Administrative Court came to the conclusion that the transfer of a judge to another court without the prior consent of its president is illegal.
Mělník judge Marcela Buštová faced disciplinary proposals for delays, repeatedly. She will end her post as a judge already this month.
The judge of the OS in Most, Iva Flaxová, is also a “punitive recidivist”. In addition to the delays, the court management blamed her for low expertise. She is currently facing a disciplinary proposal for the delays she was supposed to have committed in 12 cases between 2021 and 2023. In January of this year, Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek temporarily relieved her of her duties as a judge.
In the justification of the decision, the minister states that it is not just the judge’s inactivity, but primarily ignorance of the legal regulation and inability to understand the issue being addressed. In a number of cases, the delays were even evaluated as maladministration and were the reason for the payment of satisfaction, in considerably large amounts.
Judge Flaxová turned to the NSS because she did not agree with the minister’s decision. Her argumentation is based on the fact that she was not familiar with the plan and might not comment on it, that she solves and eliminates the delays that are continuously criticized, and that the minister’s decision actually prevents her from doing so and contributes to the delays. She also said she was under “special scrutiny from the court’s leadership” following being repeatedly called upon to resign as a judge.
However, the disciplinary panel at the NSS rejected her objections to the minister’s decision on temporary exemption.
Petr Dimun
