Ljubljana - Matej Accetto has been elected president of the Constitutional Court after his peers voted to give him a three-year term at the helm of Slovenia's top court. He will take over from Rajko Knez on 19 December, the court said on Monday.

The law stipulates that the nine Constitutional Court judges elect the president from among their ranks in a secret ballot.

Accetto started his nine-year term on the court in March 2017 and has been its vice-president since September 2019.

The Constitutional Court did not release the results of the vote, but one of the judges, Klemen Jaklič, announced he would boycott the proceedings.

In a letter published by the news portal Siol, Jaklič said the "pre-arranged candidate" would be confirmed by a majority that has taken the court in a direction where it has become the subject of "unprecedented criticism".

He says this criticism is "to a large extent substantively justified," which he has been trying to highlight in his dissenting opinions.

Jaklič, one of the youngest judges on the court, is known for his dissenting opinions, in particular in the last year or so, when the court has issued a series of judgements striking down government Covid measures.