Legal Experts Warn That Slovakia's Law-making Process Is Unsustainable

Bratislava, 17 April (TASR) - The state of the legislative process in Slovakia is unsustainable, with circumventions of the rules putting the foundations of the rule of law in peril, according to experts in constitutional, civil and administrative law who held a round-table discussion on this subject at the Legal Institute in Bratislava on Wednesday (April 15), TASR reported on Friday based on information from the institute. "Law-making is an activity that must take place in line with the law, and law-makers must be aware of their responsibility in this process. If the state doesn't respect its own rules when making laws, it gambles with the predictability and stability of the entire legal environment," stated Martin Krivak, Legal Institute's executive director. During the discussion facilitated by former justice minister Lucia Zitnanska, experts criticised in particular the use of MPs' initiatives to bypass the standard process and the insufficient quality and low informative value of regulatory impact analyses, with political goals taking precedence over professional expertise. They also called on legislators and law-makers to return to respecting the legislative rules and the Constitutional Court's case-law. "This discussion is only the beginning - we'll continue with expert debates until we bring the legislative environment up to standard," added Krivak. jrg/df