The silhouette of Daniel Lipšic. (source: TASR)
Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) has managed to accomplish one of his main pre-election goals. After almost 20 years of its existence, the Special Prosecutor’s Office, headed by former politician and lawyer Daniel Lipšic, will cease to exist on March 20.
President Zuzana Čaputová wasn’t able to stop the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office (ÚŠP). She challenged Fico’s rapid and extensive changes in criminal policy at the Constitutional Court on February 19. However, in the section related to the abolition of the ÚŠP, the panel of 12 judges did not comply with her proposal to suspend the amendment. The end of the Office is thus irreversible.
“In relation to the Special Prosecutor’s Office, we expected the relevant laws not to be suspended, as the existence of the ÚŠP does not have a constitutional dimension,” the Office said on Facebook.
The Office, however, noted that only 32 percent of people were in favour of abolishing the Office in February 2024, citing an Ipsos poll.
Prosecutors added that they are fulfilling their duties in preliminary proceedings and in court proceedings. They also noted that they have filed charges with the court against 63 people and motions to approve plea agreements for 14 people since the start of this year. But three weeks before the end of this anti-corruption institution, ÚŠP prosecutors don’t know what the entire abolition process will look like.
