President Ivan Gašparovič’s decision not to appoint elected General Prosecutor Jozef Čentéš could be costly to the president as the TA3 news channel reported on November 13 that if the Constitutional Court finds that Čentéš’s rights had been violated the court could order sanctions against the president.
Čentéš was elected General Prosecutor on June 17, 2011 but President Gašparovič has delayed officially appointing him to the post.
At first Gašparovič delayed the appointment while waiting for a ruling by the Constitutional Court on a complaint by the acting general prosecutor who had challenged parliament’s change of the vote from a secret ballot to public, recorded vote. Though the court found no violation of the constitution, Gašparovič still has not appointed Čentéš by stating that after the fall of the government and establishment of the interim cabinet he has more important things to do.
“[Jozef] Čentéš is a tertiary question for me,” said Gašparovič, as quoted by TA3.
According to a constitutional lawyer interviewed by TA3 delaying the official appointment of Čentéš could have consequences for Gašparovič.
“If the court ruled that the individual rights of Mr Čentéš to his public function have been violated by the inactivity of president, which would in fact means that he [Gašparovič] violated the constitution, the National Assembly would have to charge the president with intentional violation of the constitution, what could result in an earlier end of his mandate,”| said lawyer Lucia Mokrá, as quoted by TA3.
Source: TA3
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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