"We need qualified people with moral integrity"

Sandra Day O'Connor, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice and U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires John Ordway, American Center.

That's what a group of leading figures from the Czech and Slovak judiciaries concluded in a July roundtable discussion with retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. All participants in the event, which was entitled, "Legal and Constitutional Issues in Corruption Cases," agreed that corruption is the most pressing issue in their countries. 

Jan Hrivnak, a prosecutor in Slovakia's Special Prosecution Office in Slovakia, noted, "Solving corruption is a bigger problem than any other form of crime... and what is needed is political support to address this issue. As long as public figures do not take the fight against corruption as a real challenge, it will be futile." President of the Czech Union of Prosecutors Lenka Bradacova noted that the formal approach to criminal procedure in the Czech legislation is a problem, “What we need are highly qualified people with moral integrity.” Another focus of the debate was an independent judiciary.

As participant Judge Jan Vyklicky stressed, "We have to act now to make appropriate changes in the system, and then we must pay special attention to educating our professionals to properly deal with the plague of corruption." U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires John Ordway moderated the event.