Slovakia’s parliamentary session started on May 31 with a debate on the ruling coalition's proposal to curb immunity of members of parliament and judges in cases of civil transgressions, the SITA newswire reported.
Lawmakers will also discuss a proposal from the Ordinary People faction of Freedom and Solidarity party that would also scrap MPs’ immunity from criminal prosecution.
While limiting immunity in cases of civil wrongdoing only requires a simple majority, curbing immunity from criminal prosecution would require a constitutional majority of 90 votes, SITA wrote.
Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská will also advocate for her amendment to the law on prosecution in which she wants to make competition for posts of district prosecutors mandatory, cancel the current method for grooming candidates for these posts, and make prosecutors' decisions public. The changes would also bolster the powers of her ministry in several respects, which brought sharp criticism from the opposition Smer party.
Another point on this week's parliamentary schedule is discussion of cancellation of the so-called Mečiar amnesties, initiated by the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH). However, this proposal cannot be approved without a helping hand by Smer MPs as it must be supported by 90 legislators.
MPs are also expected to debate Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer's revision of the Press Code which would cancel public officials’ right to reply as the right to reply and the right to a correction would not be applied simultaneously. The amendment would also offer the right of reply only if false information had been was published.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
