After more than two months of obstructions and eight rounds of weekly protests across Slovak cities, the Criminal Code reform of Robert Fico’s government, which means dissolving the Special Prosecutor’s Office, reducing penalties and weakening whistleblower protection, has passed.
The European Commission, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Parliament have all warned about the proposed changes. One of the last-minute additions slashed the statute of limitations for rape, including that of minors, from 20 to 10 years.
“If in some specific cases, it turns out that shortening the statute of limitations has a negative impact on the investigation of these acts, the party is ready to come up with an adjustment,” the governmental Hlas party said in a statement.
However, legal experts pointed out that once the new statute of limitations starts to apply, which is set to happen on March 15, it will not be reversible for past crimes affected by it.
The vote in Parliament was preceded by hundreds of amendments from the opposition, which wanted to delay the voting process as much as possible.
Fico’s government sought to fast-track the reforms and originally wanted to pass them before Christmas 2023. Due to the parliamentary opposition’s blockade, one of the longest in Slovak history, these plans did not come to fruition.
The amendment was criticised by European institutions as well and could be used as grounds for triggering a conditional mechanism in Slovakia, as new penalties for fraud and mishandling of EU funds might not be appropriately deterring.
President Zuzana Čaputová said she is ready to veto the reform and will likely challenge it under the Constitutional Court. Meanwhile, the political opposition has promised to continue organising anti-government protests.
The protests, which were attended by tens of thousands of people across Slovakia on a weekly basis, continued on Wednesday and Thursday as well. On Wednesday evening, 18,000 people protested right in front of the parliament building, as that was when the vote on the reform was originally scheduled.
(Natália Silenská, Barbara Zmušková | Euractiv.sk)
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Source: euractiv.com
