BRATISLAVA, October 27, (WEBNOVINY) — The present government is not prepared to apply the law on documenting the origin of property, opines leader of the opposition SMER-SD party Robert Fico, under whose rule the law was passed. “It is an efficient step on the way to fight corruption. The second question, however, is whether we are ready to apply it,” the former Prime Minister addressed journalists on Wednesday. The piece of legislation will come into force on January 1, 2011. Fico pointed out the need to increase the numbers of financial police and prosecutors by ninety to ensure an efficient application of the law. At the news conference, Fico said that the Cabinet of Iveta Radicova’s has not taken any steps in this respect to date. “I must ask whether this government wants to start applying the law from January,” he noted.
The SMER leader, presently also serving as the Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament, warned that the state is liable for potential damages caused by application of the law in question. “I expect the Cabinet to make decisions immediately. Without changes, the law will be worthless,” he said, and expressed concerns over the future of the norm. His Cabinet did not have the time to resolve personnel matters arising from the law as the norm was passed just before at the end of his term. Regarding the number of posts, there should be no considerable trouble to fill them. The opposition leader pointed out that the application of the law will be a demanding task also due to other aspects, for instance, new definitions of legal terms introduced by the legislation.
In response to these statements, Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic countered that the concerned law lacks teeth and can easily be circumvented. With regard to the form in which it was passed, “all big fish” will elude punishment. “And this is what Robert Fico has always wanted,” Lipsic accused the former Prime Minister. The minister denied the need to boost the staff of the financial police or the number of prosecutors. Exclusion of unusual business transactions from the category of legal income is crucial to give the norm extra teeth. “So that it will not be possible to easily dodge the law anytime, when someone says that he/she has a million-[dollar]-loan from grandpa in America or a gift from an uncle from Svidnik,” Lipsic elaborated. Such a proposal was submitted when the draft bill tailored by the Robert Fico’s Cabinet was undergoing the approval procedure but most SMER deputies voted it down, while some of them refrained from voting. The minister promised to support any tightening of the law, initiated either by deputies or the Justice Ministry under whose jurisdiction the norm falls.
The law on documenting the origin on property and the corresponding constitutional revision received the green light from lawmakers on March 4. According to the new rules, property acquired illegally can be confiscated by the state from persons or companies. The financial police will submit proposals to prosecutors to initiate action about suspicious property, which exceeds documented income by 1,500-fold of the minimum wage, which is about EUR 450,000. Legislators simultaneously amended the Constitution to secure that the Constitutional Court will not be able to restrict or cancel effectiveness of the law.
In 2008, the Constitutional Court labeled the law on documenting the origin of property from 2005 as contradictory to the Constitution regarding retroactivity and the shift of the burden of proof onto private individuals and legal entities.
SITA