Constitutional Court: Majority of Penal Code Provisions Constitutional

Kosice/Bratislava, July 3 (TASR) - The majority of Penal Code provisions are in accordance with the Slovak Constitution, but not all of them, the Constitutional Court decided on Wednesday.

TASR learnt the news from Constitutional Court chair Ivan Fiacan on the same day.

Fiacan detailed that the Penal Code bill flies in the face of the Constitution in provisions dealing with the confiscation of property and transitional provisions on the statutes of limitations.

In addition, the court found as unconstitutional also a transitional provision that was supposed to grant the Justice Minister power to appeal against plea bargains concluded between defendants and prosecutors as far back as three years in the past retroactively and use illicitly obtained evidence in criminal prosecution to the benefit of defendants.

The court didn't find unconstitutional the decisions to scrap the Special Prosecutor's Office, change criminal sentencing structure, property damage classifications or the fashion in which the bill was passed by Parliament on February 8.

The Penal Code amendment was challenged in the court in February by former president Zuzana Caputova (2019-24) and opposition lawmakers.

In late February, the Constitutional Court suspended the effects of the Penal Code.