Slovakia’s constitutional court has halted some of the major changes to the criminal code adopted by the government to reduce penalties for corruption and fraud, Reuters reported.
Today, however, the court issued a statement that it had rejected other objections by the liberal Slovak President Zuzana Czaputova and the opposition. This means that the plan to close the specialized prosecutor’s office, which dealt with serious crimes, including high-level corruption, will go ahead.
The changes, fast-tracked by Prime Minister Robert Fizzo’s coalition, have alarmed the opposition, and the European Commission and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office have expressed concern.
Criticism has focused on the lack of broad debate, the significant reduction in penalties for financial crimes and the shortening of statutes of limitations that will permanently end ongoing investigations, even if the law is only in effect for one day.
The Constitutional Court did not overturn the planned reform to close the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office, which brought criminal cases to court against high-ranking civil servants and politicians from Prime Minister Fizo’s “Direction-Social Democracy” party.
This decision means that on March 15, the unapproved parts of the reform will not enter into force, because they will await further deliberations in the Constitutional Court, which could take months.
In this case, the Constitutional Court acts expeditiously in order to be able to issue a decision before the amended law enters into force.
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