EU funds for Slovakia at risk as penal reform’s contentious parts get constitutional OK

Slovakia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that most of the criticised changes to the country’s Criminal Code are constitutional and can be implemented, a decision that could potentially jeopardise Slovakia’s access to EU funds.

On Wednesday evening, Slovakia’s Constitutional Court ruled that parts of the country’s criminal code reform package, which includes a reduction in sentences for serious crimes, including corruption, a reduction in statutes of limitations and the abolition of the special prosecutor’s office, are not unconstitutional.

“The statutes of limitations will be reduced where the reform has reduced them,” Constitutional Court President Ivan Fiačan told a press conference.

Only those parts of the reform that interfere retroactively with criminal proceedings were found to be unconstitutional.

The court also questioned the ruling coalition’s handling of the penalty of confiscation of property and ruled that the possibility of using illegally obtained evidence in favour of the accused was unconstitutional.

The decision was quickly welcomed by Interior Minister and Hlas leader Matúš Šutaj Eštok.

“Today’s decision of the Constitutional Court confirmed that neither the process of adopting the law nor the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office – that is, the parts that the opposition was organising protests against (…) – violated the constitution,” Šutaj Eštok said.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties KDH and SLOVENSKO continue criticising the reform, saying that the new criminal law is “against morality and will not have a good effect on society”.

“Just because some parts of the reform are consistent with the Constitution, that does not mean that they are morally right and in line with the public interest,” said Gábor Grendel (SLOVENSKO), deputy chairman of the parliament’s defence and security committee.

Slovak EU funds on thin ice

The reform was initially due to come into force on 15 March, but the Constitutional Court has been reviewing it since February at the request of then-president Zuzana Čaputová and opposition parties.

During this period, most of the reform’s measures were temporarily suspended pending a decision on their constitutionality – except the reform’s proposal to abolish the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which was done in March.

Since December 2023, both the European Commission and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) have repeatedly criticised the reform and warned of potentially far-reaching consequences for its implementation, saying it could also lead to Slovakia’s EU funds being frozen.

In April, Prime Minister Robert Fico admitted that he was engaged in “an extremely tough professional and political discussion” with the Commission regarding the changes to the Criminal Code and the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office.

In approving the fourth instalment of Slovakia’s recovery plan on Monday, the European Commission raised several concerns about respect for the rule of law in Slovakia, in particular, the reform of the criminal code.

According to the Commission’s assessment, the reform could jeopardise corruption investigations, including those involving recovery plan funds.

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)

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