Constitutional Court Suspends Penal Code Amendment on Cooperating Defendants

       Kosice, 11 February (TASR) - The Constitutional Court has suspended the effect of an amendment to the Penal Code that was aimed at making evidence obtained from a cooperating defendant inadmissible.
        The court didn't grant a proposal to suspend the effect of the remaining part of the Penal Code amendment adopted by Parliament last December.
        The decisions concerned a motion filed by a group of opposition MPs.
        The amendment to the Penal Code was also challenged before the Constitutional Court by Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka and the Specialised Criminal Court (STS). The Constitutional Court also accepted their proposals for further proceedings, combining them into a joint proceeding.
        Judges Ivan Fiacan, Rastislav Kassak, Lubos Szigeti and Robert Sorl attached dissenting opinions to the Constitutional Court's decision concerning the ruling and reasons.
        The Penal Code amendment, which includes changes to the Penal Procedure Code, was adopted by Parliament via a fast-tracked legislative procedure. Coalition MPs argued that the institution of cooperating defendant was being abused; for example, in the conviction of individuals on the basis of testimony that proved to be unreliable.
        Due to the changes to the Criminal Procedure Code, the Supreme Court suspended the trial of defendant Norbert B. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] in a bribery case.