“If Accetto’s affiliation to the left, the existence of underground agreements, and Jourová’s help for the left in taking over RTV Slovenia is true, this is a further serious disgrace for the Slovenian judiciary, a legal crime – a continuing crime,” believes former criminal court judge Zvjezdan Radonjić.
Constitutional Court Judge Matej Accetto has long been known to have strong ambitions to become a judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union. This is also the reason why he voted against the suspension of the amendment to the Radio-Television Slovenia Act, which allowed the political takeover of the national media outlet under controversial circumstances. There were offers on the table that would have enabled him to do so – from Slovenian politics to European Commissioner Věra Jourová, who would have helped him with European decision-makers.
All the indications are that the predictions were correct and that this is a first-class case of corruption, where a judge has sold himself for a well-paid job. In addition to Accetto, Marko Bošnjak, a judge of the European Court of Human Rights, is also in the running for the position, but his mandate expires next year.
“For decades, the Slovenian judiciary has been casting a visible, traceable light on itself. The light of anarchy, interconnectedness, clientelism, nepotism, necrophilia, anti-professionalism. Episodes of this kind are a constant, there is no fear that something decent will happen,” commented former judge Zvjezdan Radonjić.
President of the Constitutional Court, Matej Accetto, has decided to run for an important position in the European institutions, which MEP Milan Zver finds quite understandable, but at the same time, he pointed out that there are a number of open questions regarding the rule of law in the European Union. “Recently, it has become increasingly evident that double standards are being applied in the EU to assess the state of the rule of law, and this is becoming problematic. Every year, the European Parliament adopts reports on the state of the rule of law, and this time, it will also include a report on media freedom,” MEP Zver pointed out.
If this was indeed a deal, it is a serious disgrace to the judiciary and a criminal offence
Several questions are being raised about Acetto’s candidacy, notably because of the visit of European Commissioner Věra Jourová to the Constituional Court, at a time when the constitutional review of the Radio-Television Slovenia Act was happening. The Constitutional Court ruled that the law should stand, prompting speculation that Accetto’s candidacy to be the Slovenian representative at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg could be his reward for the support for Jourová and the domestic level of the political elite. Radonjić believes that if Accetto’s affiliation to the left, the existence of underground agreements, and Jourová’s help for the left in taking over RTV Slovenia is true, “this is a further serious disgrace for the Slovenian judiciary, a legal crime – a continuing crime. A give-and-take bargain is in line with the functioning of both our and European law.” In this context, he pointed to the material of Boštjan M. Zupančič, who has written extensively on the subject.
MEP Zver is waiting for the verdict, but is worried that “the Commission is kicking hard right now”
As it is still not known what exactly Jourová and Accetto talked about in relation to the Radio-Television Slovenia Act, MEP Zver has gone one step further and filed a lawsuit against the European Commission. “I have replied to their reply, and I expect the judgment to be dropped in a few days. But it is true that the Commission is kicking quite hard right now,” Zver said, adding that the European Commission, for now still in its old composition, is working hard to bring certain key strategic issues home before its work is done, such as certain appointments to agencies and European institutions, as well as the details of the Green Deal.
The Commission is still actively taking key decisions just before its members are due to be replaced, which has raised doubts about whether the new line-up will bring significant changes or whether the continuity of previous practices will remain intact. In the background of the political games, the question of the fate of European industry and agriculture remains. While left-wing parties in the European Union support sustainable agriculture and strict environmental standards, many are critical that these policies are harming European manufacturers and industries, including the car industry. The European Parliament, where the Socialists, Liberals and the Greens have consolidated their positions despite previous defeats, is now shaping the future of the European Union.
It is a hard realisation
The fact is that the swamp of Slovenian justice and politics has entered waters that even the Yugoslav rulers would not have dared to venture into in the past. The latter was also commented on by a former judge, who pointed out that “Yugoslavia was a serious country with an internally consistent legal order. We can discuss the value parameters of a truly undemocratic society, but the legal order did not have all the possible flaws. It is a terrible realisation that after three decades, modern Slovenia has not developed the mechanisms of the rule of law.”
Tanja Brkič
