BRATISLAVA, August 19, (WEBNOVINY) — Public officials should bear not only criminal but also material responsibility for any damages they cause by negligence. They should thus have to pay for damages they cause to public property by conscious gross negligence. These are some of the changes to be enacted through an amendment to the law on liability of a public authorities in the exercise their duties proposed by Radoslav Prochazka, MP for the ruling coalition member the KDH party. „My bill does not go against personal freedom, but goes for the wallet of public officials,“ he said on Friday at a press conference where he presented the draft that he submitted to the parliamentary registry office.
He believes it is necessary to adopt these changes to create space for recovery of at least a partial compensation for damages caused to the country or a county. Prochazka expects the amendment to have a preventive effect. „When there is a realistic threat that perpetrators would have to pay the damages from their own pocket, it can be expected that they would handle public funds more responsibly“ he said. Also collective bodies, including the Cabinet would bear responsibility for their actions. However, those members of a collective body would escape penalization who voted against taking the action from which the damages resulted.
The amendment enables public officials to buy insurance against potential damages they may cause. The law does not set any minimum or maximum insurance coverage. Prochazka relies on the free choice of insurance companies that will decide whether and in what form they would offer such policies. „I don’t think that this should be the obstacle to prevent the application of the principle. If such insurance product does not exist, the pressure on public officials will be higher to proceed with maximum caution,“ he told reporters.
Prochazka admitted that his amendment is to a significant degree an experiment that he does not know from other countries. „I think it is an experiment that is specific to our domestic situation. (…) Time has come to at least give it a try,“ he said. He admitted the amendment would have a greater chance of being passed if it was presented by the Cabinet, but he did not want to wait. „The government now is clearly struggling with a problem at a much higher order than this one, the situation in the euro area,“ he said.
Prochazka expects support for his initiative not only from his political party but also from the liberal SaS, which has a similar point in their election program, or from the Ordinary People group around Igor Matovic. Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska (SDKU-DS) also gave her verbal consent to the subject to the amendment, said Prochazka.
Parliament in July approved an amendment to the Penal Code, which extended the punishment of public officials in cases of so-called conscious gross negligence. If they cause damage, though not intentionally, but with the knowledge that their actions may lead to it, from September they may be punished by a jail term of up to five years. However, Prochazka believes it is also necessary to claim damages from the culprits.
SITA