Constitutional Court: Some Provisions of Damage Liability Law Unconstitutional

Kosice, May 28 (TASR) - Part of the legislation on liability for damage caused while exercising public authority is not in compliance with the Slovak Constitution, with the provision in question relating to improper official conduct, the Constitutional Court decided on Wednesday. The amendment to the legislation as well as to the Administrative Judicial Code from 2023 were challenged by then-President Zuzana Caputova (2019-24). However, the Constitutional Court did not accommodate the rest of her petition. The former president criticized the fact that 36 amendments and additional provisions were adopted to the Administrative Judicial Code, effectively rewriting nearly the entire original amendment. According to Caputova, the adopted version unconstitutionally equated the legal institution of “adequate financial satisfaction” or “fair satisfaction” — forms of sanction against a public authority — with the legal institution of compensation for non-pecuniary harm as a form of damages. mf