The Finance Ministry is not authorised to carry out an audit at the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, according to an appellate verdict of the Supreme Court itself, the SITA newswire reported. The Supreme Court thus confirmed the first-instance verdict of the Bratislava Regional Court from January 18 which the Finance Ministry had contested.
The dispute between the Supreme Court and the Finance Ministry related to a fine of over €30,000 imposed by Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš on the Supreme Court in August 2010 after it obstructed a government audit. The fact that the Supreme Court handles public funds does not mean that it is a public administration authority as the Finance Ministry had assumed, the appellate senate of the Supreme Court found.
"The Supreme Court is not and cannot be a public administration body because it is the highest judicial authority," the ruling states, continuing that only a public administration body can be audited by the Finance Ministry. The appellate senate went on to say that spending of public money at the Supreme Court can be audited, but that such an audit should be carried out by the Supreme Audit Office.
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.
