Klaus appoints constitutional judge Zidlicka

President Vaclav Klaus has appointed Roman law expert Michaela Zidlicka as a new constitutional judge, raising the number of the members of the body to 12 and thus enabling the court to debate complex constitutional complaints in a plenum. In all, the Constitutional Court should have 15 members. Constitutional judges are proposed by the president, but their nomination must be approved by the Senate. President Klaus has put forward 15 candidates, one of them twice, since taking office last year. The Senate has rejected five candidates and accepted eight. Earlier this year, the Christian Democrat Senator Zdenek Barta said he would file a constitutional complaint of treason against President Klaus for his delays in naming judges. According to the complaint, Mr Klaus has crippled one branch of power by not naming judges. President Klaus has rejected the allegation.