Slovak News Back to the news
Lipsic: Toothless Property Disclosure Act Will Only Catch Small Potatoes
Thursday 04 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 4 (TASR) - The Act on Disclosure of Origin of Property and the respective amendment to Slovakia's Constitution, as approved by Parliament on Thursday, is a feckless and milquetoast piece of legislation that will not be able to crack down on organised crime, Opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) vice-chairman Daniel Lipsic said later in the day.
Coalition parties Smer-SD and SNS, together with the Opposition SDKU-DS, SMK and KDH parties, joined forces in Parliament on Thursday to pass the Act on Disclosure of Origin of Property, along with okaying the amendment of the Slovak Constitution that enables the law to come into effect.
The law differs from a similar bill submitted by Lipsic that was given the thumbs down in Parliament in early February because it was said to lack specifics on its retroactivity.
"All corrupt politicians who are sensible and tactful will be able to end-run the law by all kinds of gifts, loans, fictitious stock purchases at incredible prices," said Lipsic of the adopted law, which has been drafted by Prime Minister and governing-coalition Smer-SD party chairman Robert Fico.
He stressed that had the House okayed his amending proposals, the law would now be much more efficient. However, governing-coalition Smer-SD legislators have shown that "they're only after a toothless law that will only catch small potatoes," said former justice minister Lipsic.
He also dismissed the legislation as a move made with a view to the general election in June, calling the situation surrounding the law 'mere theatre'.
Lipsic noted that he did endorse the law because "it's still better to catch small potatoes than none." The law may serve as a foundation stone for another law that will not be conceived for solely political marketing purposes. He added that he expects the law to be improved once this coalition is replaced by one that won't be so corrupt.
LS-HZDS chairman Vladimir Meciar said that the laws fall out of the bounds of the rule of law and democracy. However, he said he doesn't plan on challenging the law at the country's Constitutional Court, as he did with the previously-adopted similar law that was subsequently described as anti-constitutional.
According to head of co-governing SNS party's parliamentary caucus chairman Rafael Rafaj, SNS MPs were given a free hand in whether to support the act or not. "I abstained from voting ... I was unimpressed by the law from the legal point of view. It's one of the most feeble drafts I've ever seen," he said.
Asked whether SNS will turn to the Constitutional Court over the legislation, Rafaj said that if there is such an initiative the challenge is not out of question – but "under current conditions this is likely to be futile."
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
