Ministry rejects Taraba's criticism of the amendment on…

Ministry rejects Taraba's criticism of the amendment on cooperating witnesses

13.11.2026 16:01 HotInfo

The Ministry of Justice rejected Tomáš Taraba's claim that the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code on cooperating defendants is unconstitutional. The ministry stated that the lawmaker did not specify what the alleged unconstitutionality of the proposal consisted of.

The basis for preparing the amendment was Czech and Italian legal regulation, as well as decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic. The ministry also pointed to a 2024 ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic, which concerned the use of testimonies by cooperating defendants in criminal proceedings. domov.sme.sk ↗

Taraba is demanding the removal of the provision requiring that a cooperating witness's testimony be supported by additional evidence. The ministry claims that this requirement is not new and already follows from existing legal practice. The proposed amendment was meant to explicitly write it into law.

According to the ministry, this is not a restriction of fair process, but rather its guarantee and a strengthening of legal certainty for participants in criminal proceedings. It also criticized the fact that Taraba did not submit comments on the proposal during the inter-ministerial comment procedure or at the government meeting.

After the amendment was rejected in the National Council, Taraba stated that he does not want to support laws that, in his view, the coalition is pushing through despite their possible unconstitutionality. On November 11, parliament did not approve the proposal, with 75 lawmakers voting in favor. dennikn.sk ↗