Puci: SNS to Withdraw Criminal Code Amendment and Seek Joint Proposal (2)

Bratislava, 19 January (TASR) – The coalition's Slovak National Party (SNS) is expected to withdraw its amendment to the Criminal Code, and a joint coalition proposal of changes to the Criminal Code is to be submitted to Parliament instead, after an agreement with the Justice Ministry, head of Voice-SD parliamentary caucus Robert Puci told journalists after Monday's session of the coalition council. The chairs of coalition caucuses also discussed the course of the upcoming parliamentary session. MPs don't yet plan to elect the chair of the European Affairs Committee, even after the dismissal of Jan Ferencak (independent) for the post. Voice-SD has proposed Peter Kmec (Voice-SD) for the post, but according to Puci he does not wish to chair the committee. "Voice has a problem with this, so we will see what happens after the large coalition council. But I must state that the basic idea of changing certain so-called "rubber paragraphs" exists; the requirement is that it be done in cooperation with the Justice Ministry," SNS caucus head Roman Michelko said regarding the Criminal Code amendment. "This is the main requirement of Smer-SD: it shouldn't be addressed without consulting the ministry. Realistically, we assume that even the first reading will probably not take place at this session unless these matters are discussed first," added Smer-SD caucus head Jan Richter. Puci recalled that the coalition agreement also states that any MPs' bill must go to Parliament only after the consent of the relevant minister. "Today we more or less agreed that colleagues should withdraw this proposal and a new, joint proposal will come, approved by the justice minister, or, alternatively, it will be directly a government bill," he added. In its amendment, SNS proposes, for example, adjustments to sentencing ranges for extremist crimes. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraphs 2-5 mf/mcs