Caputova Asks Court to Interpret Constitution in Relation to PG's Activities

Bratislava, September 12 (TASR) - President Zuzana Caputova has asked for an interpretation of the Constitution in connection with the activities of Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka, TASR was told by spokesman for the head of state Martin Strizinec.
       Caputova approached the Constitutional Court due to the existence of a constitutional dispute between her and the prosecutor-general.
       Strizinec further explained that in March of this year, the president asked the prosecutor-general to send all the decisions of the prosecutor-general and of the first deputy prosecutor-general, issued under Section 363 of the Penal Code. "In response to this request, the prosecutor-general informed the president that he couldn't comply with it. The prosecutor-general expressed the opinion that the president is not entitled, according to the Constitution, to assess the quality of the functioning of the constitutional authority of the prosecutor-general," said the spokesperson.
       Unlike the prosecutor-general, the president is convinced that the constitutional position of the president and the prosecutor-general, their mutual relationship and the constitutional rights of the president vis-à-vis the prosecutor-general as well as the practice of the Constitutional Court, show that the constitutional principle of cooperation and control as part of the principle of separation of powers in the rule of law, also applies to the relationship between the president and the prosecutor-general. "In the president's opinion, the legitimacy of the prosecutor-general derives primarily from the appointment by the president, and therefore it is constitutionally legitimate and predictable that the president, ensuring the proper functioning of constitutional bodies, has appropriate constitutional control over the activities of the prosecutor-general," added Strizinec.
       "The prosecutor-general is currently on a foreign business trip. As soon as the circumstances allow him to do so, he'll comment on the matter," said spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General's Office Zuzana Drobova in response.