The Slovak Finance Ministry does not have the authority to audit the Supreme Court, according to a ruling by the Bratislava Regional Court delivered on Tuesday, January 18.
The ruling on the case, which went to court in the aftermath of a wrangle between the ministry and Supreme Court president Štefan Harabin over a series of blocked audits at the court last year, was not accompanied by an explanation. The court ruled that the Supreme Court does not belong among the network of public administration authorities and thus the only body that may audit it is the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ), the TASR newswire wrote.
After several unsuccessful attempts to carry out an audit, the Finance Ministry in August last year fined the Supreme Court more than €33,000. However, that decision was overturned by Tuesday’s ruling. The ministry’s lawyer, Lucia Krausová, said in response that the verdict would be appealed.
During the dispute over the audits, General Prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka averred that the ministry did have the right to carry out audits of the Supreme Court.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
