Svobodna Dnevnik

[Hadash]

Macharaviayaische Zeitung

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Mordvania: President of the Constitutional Court dies
By: Polina Lamparska
Published: Marth 20, 1587


Kaluza becomes the first President of the Constitutional Court to die in office.

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The President of the Mordvanian Constitutional Court, Timoslav Kaluza, has died at the age of 67, a family spokesperson has confirmed this morning.

Kaluza died in Khibland, where he had travelled to attend and open a legal conference, invited by the National University of Südenberg. However, he reportedly started to feel unwell, and he required the assistance of an emergency unit. They couldn't help him, however, as he reportedly died before arriving the hospital. The cause of death has been described as a heart attack. His body is expected to be returned to Mordvania tomorrow.

There will not be autopsy performed, it was reported in the Mordvanian media. The decision for no autopsy was made both by the family and the public office of the Constitutional Court, a newspaper has published. Kaluza has a history of heart disease, a family spokesperson has confirmed.

Timoslav Kaluza had been a Constitutional Court judge since 1578, and President of the Constitutional Court since 1585. He was currently the most senior member of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the Republic of Mordvania. The Mordvanian government has announced three days of mourning. In a statement, President Zvezdana Serebryak has said that she and the Republican Council were saddened to hear of Kaluza's passing.

The President of the Republican Council (head of government), Vladislav Kozina, has declared that Kaluza's death "is a great loss to the Republic of Mordvania, which he so loyally served. He was an excellent individual and jurist, and respected and admired by his colleagues, as they themselves personally told me...We extend our deepest condolences to his family".

Before starting his career as judge, Kaluza was elected to the Royal Assembly in 1565 and the 1567 Constituent Assembly as a republican candidate, retiring from politics in 1570. In 1574, he was appointed to the National Court of Justice. Kaluza was identified with the radical-republican school of jurisprudence. When Kaluza was appointed to the Constitutional Court in 1578, left-leaning judges were a minority. At the time, although the republican doctrine influenced most judges, the Constitutional Court was considered a moderate institution, with an interpretation of the constitution which some considered too rigid. Judge Kaluza, on the hand, was soon known by a more flexible and modern interpretation of the constitution and the law. Although the Constitutional Court moved toward a left-oriented majority in recent years, Kaluza was considered a moderate in some social issues -he was reportedly, according to Mordvanian media, a religious person- and he sometimes shifted his vote unexpectedly. His critics labelled him as a "left-wing paternalist", although he was widely respected in the court in particular and the judiciary system in general.

Although there is no written rule about how the President of the Constitutional Court is appointed, the tradition is that the most senior judge of the court is elected unanimously, unless that person declines (this happened precisely in 1585, when judge Zetko Prokovar, who was expected to retire the next year, declined to be President of the Constitutional Court, and Timoslav Kaluza became the 5th president of the Constitutional Court). Therefore Radana Kumerdek is expected to succeed Kaluza, becoming the first women president of the Constitutional Court.

It is expected that Kaluza's seat in the Constitutional Court to be filled as soon as possible. Constitutional Court judges are nominated by the President of the Republic with parliamentary approval. The judges are elected for a non-fixed term, but they must retire upon reaching the age of 70. According to the Mordvanian Constitution, the only requirement for a judge is to be at least 40 years old and being a well-trained jurist.

Kaluza's death may set up a political battle, as his replacement will be the sixth judge appointed since Zvezdana Serebryak was elected President four years ago. As most of those appointments were judges under 60-year-old, and Kaluza's was expected to retire after the 1590 presidential election, this new appointment could have a long-lasting influence, potentially securing a left-wing majority in the court for at least a decade or more.

For that reason, the situation has arisen comments about the coincidence of Kaluza's death, and questioning if the judge really died of natural causes. Matej Rozman, a local councillor from the Republican Liberal Party in Paviemes voyvodeship, echoed such message calling for "a serious and independent investigation on the causes on Kaluza's death" in a controversial online statement. Only a few hours later, Rozman was forced by his own political party to withdraw such comment and apologize publically. Blaz Stuchkek, a Mordvanian scholar and politician, and retired diplomat, whom was reportedly a Kaluza's close friend, has described such claims as "absurd...and nothing but ludicrous conspiracy theories".