Disgraced judge resigns his post

The Justice Ministry has said it will tighten the rules on the prosecution of judges after a Supreme Court judge resigned in a move that ended the disciplinary case against him.

Tereza Palečková, spokeswoman for the Justice Ministry, told The Prague Post the resignation of Supreme Court (NS) Deputy Chairman Pavel Kučera was viewed by the ministry as "an obvious circumvention of the law."

The Presidential Office received Kučera's letter of resignation Nov. 10, just one day after Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil (Civic Democrats, ODS) suspended the judge pending Supreme Court disciplinary proceedings.

These proceedings ensued from a High Court ruling in September that found Kučera guilty of unfairly influencing a corruption inquiry. The court said Kučera had violated the duties of a judge and jeopardized public trust in the independent, impartial and just decision-making of courts.

The judge immediately appealed, meaning the court's verdict stripping him of his post did not come into effect. By resigning, Kučera has now halted the disciplinary proceedings against him and can continue to work as a judge for another three months until his resignation takes effect.

Palečková said the Justice Ministry planned to put forward a change to the law on courts and judges "so that a judge facing disciplinary prosecution cannot avoid taking responsibility by giving up his position."

The spokeswoman added the amendment would also see a judge's suspension as having effect until the end of his or her tenure, as opposed to the end of disciplinary proceedings at present.

David Ondračka, director of the Czech branch of Transparency International, said he believed it should always be possible to investigate judges for any potential crime. "Judges are not gods, so they should not be above the law," he said.

Ondračka pointed out Kučera's maneuver had come too late to prevent the "public shaming that affected his good name and reputation" in September's High Court ruling. "That was a message to other judges that they are here to protect the public interest and not state or government interests," he said. "Now it's more than clear that judges themselves don't want him to continue as a judge, and the government, through the Justice Ministry, doesn't want that, either."

While arguing Kučera's departure should have come three years ago, Ondráčka said he believed the case showed "loyalty among judges" of the past, in which "some internal proceedings [led] nowhere," was no longer prevalent in the Czech judiciary.

"Judges have now realized they must fight for their reputation, and if cases are not fought properly, they [will lose] that reputation," he said. "It doesn't matter too much that he resigned, because the most critical message was still sent out."

NS Chairwoman Iva Brožová had led the legal battle against Kučera, alleging in a lawsuit he had an inadmissible influence on a 2007 case in which Jiří Čunek, then deputy prime minister and Christian Democratic Party chairman, was accused of corruption. Brožová alleged at the last of these meetings, while the government was under threat of collapse, Kučera said "the independence of decision-making must be pushed aside for the sake of political interests."Kučera would have had to retire at the end of December because judges are required to do so at the end of the year in which they turn 70, but Brožová had believed the Supreme Court could have completed the case before then.

Čunek himself was never charged with a crime and has since retired from national politics.

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Bill Lehane can be reached at
blehane@praguepost.com