After more than a month, the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) parliamentary group has finally obtained the opinion of the Legislative and Legal Service of the National Assembly regarding the convening of a meeting of the Commission for Public Office and Elections to inform MPs about the court judgments and the proposals for dismissal of the members of the national media outlet, Radio-Television Slovenia (RTVS) Programme Council. Urška Klakočar Zupančič, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia and Vice-President of the ruling Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda), has been withholding the document since the end of July. It is now clear why. The deputies of the government’s Freedom Movement party led by Robert Golob, Tanja Fajon’s Social Democrats (Socialni Demokrati – SD), and Luka Mesec’s Left party (Levica) have impermissibly abused their power and interfered with the competencies of the judicial branch of power, warned the Legislative and Legal Service of the National Assembly in an opinion for the Speaker, Urška Klakočar Zupančič.
According to the media outlet Spletni časopis (Online Journal), in May and June, in order to put pressure on the Constitutional Court, the ruling party first convened a meeting of the Commission for Public Office and Elections to take note of the court rulings resulting from the appeals of the former Director-General of RTVS, Igor Kadunc, and the former director of Television Slovenia, Natalija Gorščak.
After the “familiarisation” with the developments in the courts, the Chairperson of the Commission for Public Office and Elections, Janja Sluga, also convened a meeting to decide on the dismissal and immediate termination of the work of the RTVS Programme Councillors Leon Oblak, Ivan Štuhec, Žiga Kušar, Alenka Gotar, Slavko Kmetič, Alojzij Bogataj, Andrej Prebil, Jelka Stergel and Rok Hodej. In Parliament, the ruling party wanted to build on the rulings of the courts and convict individuals who had not been convicted without fair trials. The government’s majority in the new Programme Council would be the judge, and the aim was to be able to set up their own cadres as directors and editors at the national media outlet as soon as possible. This was already attempted by amending the Radio-Television Slovenia Act, the validity of which, pending a constitutional review, was temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court because, in their view, there was a serious possibility that the amendments would violate the constitutional order.
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Urška Klakočar Zupančič, refused to provide the document showing whether the meeting of the Commission for Public Office and Elections, which dealt with the court ruling in the RTVS case, had been convened in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, and the SDS party then decided to request the Legislative and Legal Service of the National Assembly to give its opinion on the matter.
At the request of the SDS party, Klakočar Zupančič had then commissioned an opinion, which she had apparently already received from the Legislative and Legal Service in July, but had so far failed to forward it to the SDS party. Instead, according to our information, she twice stated in her reply that, following the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, the opinion was irrelevant. “It is now clear why Urška Klakočar Zupančič refused to provide this opinion despite repeated requests,” Jelka Godec wrote after obtaining the opinion.
The National Assembly cannot deal with court rulings, as this is an interference in the competence of judges and a violation of their position
The document states that the Legislative and Legal Service believes that the introduction of court judgments as a separate item on the agenda of the Commission for Public Office and Elections is controversial and inadmissible for several legal reasons, since the said commission is not supposed to take note of a matter, but instead consider it and decide on it if it falls within its competence, and in addition, its consideration and decision must not interfere with the competence of another branch of government or the competence of another body. The Commission for Public Office and Elections may not consider court judgments; court judgments may only form the basis for decisions of the National Assembly if such competence of the National Assembly is expressly provided for by the Constitution or by law.
From a constitutional law point of view, the Legislative and Legal Service points out that the National Assembly cannot consider court rulings. Such a hearing is not only inadmissible from the point of view of the lack of competence of the National Assembly and the Commission for Public Office and Elections, but also from the point of view of interference with the competencies of the other, judicial branch of power and violation of the principle of separation of powers and the position of judges.
The National Assembly has no grounds for dismissing members of the Programme Council
The document also shows that, with regard to the issue of compliance of the convening of the meetings of the Commission for Public Office and Elections, which contain proposals for decisions on dismissal and termination of the work of the members of the Programme Council, with the Constitution, the law and the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly; the National Assembly does not have, in the opinion of the Legislative and Legal Service, a constitutional, legal or procedural basis for dismissal of the members of the Programme Council under the Radio-Television Slovenia Act. Something like that would even be in direct violation of the Constitution, the law and the Rules of Procedure.
Opinion of the Legislative and Legal Service: the decisions to terminate the work of the Programme Council are unlawful
“The proposed decisions on the dismissal and termination of the work of the members of the Programme Council are unlawful and have no legal basis in law, neither in so far as they concern dismissal nor in so far as they concern termination of the work. There is no legal basis for the dismissal, since the mandate of the members of the Programme Council has already expired under the Radio-Television Slovenia Act, and there is no legal basis for the termination of their service, since Article 22(2) of the Radio-Television Slovenia Act provides for the obligation for the members of the Programme Council to continue their service until the new body is constituted. As there is no legal basis for the dismissal, such a dismissal is also incompatible with the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly,” the document reads.
Sara Kovač
