NGOs: Amendment to Constitution Poses Danger to Rule of Law

Bratislava, May 26 (TASR) - The amendment to the Constitution presented by the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) as a protection of 'national identity' is a threat and danger to human rights, several civil associations and organisations warned at a press conference on Monday. According to Via Iuris, the proposal would allow the government to ignore European law and international conventions, with the consequences to be felt especially by vulnerable groups. They are therefore appealing to both opposition and coalition MPs not to vote for the amendment. "Under the pretext of national identity, the government is proposing a constitutional change that we consider dangerous from the perspective of our international legal obligations. And not only in relation to the EU, but also in relation to other human rights conventions currently in force in Slovakia," stated Katarina Batkova from Via Iuris. According to the organisations, it will no longer be possible to rely on the continued observance of international standards for the protection of rights in matters such as life, family, public morality, language, culture, education and science in Slovakia. They say that the proposal makes it possible not only to ignore European law and international conventions, but also to censor education, science and culture, to restrict adoptions, and to weaken the protection of children, women and people with disabilities. They consider the proposal to be an attack on the rule of law that could divert Slovakia away from the EU. Although the constitutional change is being portrayed as the introduction of only two genders, the amendment has a much broader scope, with the LGBTI+ community being used as a scapegoat, stated the organisations. According to Roman Samotny from the Inakost Initiative, the amendment will bring more fear, stigma and legal uncertainty, and it will open the door to laws expanding discrimination, exclusion and state interference in private lives. "It creates a dangerous precedent in which the state can decide who we are and who we are no longer allowed to be. And at the constitutional level, the state can abolish the right to a dignified life," remarked Samotny. The organisations also point out that the principle of the primacy of European law is enshrined in the Slovak Constitution not because the country is under a 'dictate from Brussels' but because Slovakia freely and voluntarily agreed to it with the other member states. By joining the Union, Slovakia also created a common legal space so that the same rules would apply across the EU. The states also agreed to respect mutual differences, i.e., diversity and national identity. The organisations also note that Slovakia may face sanctions in the future. mf/df