Peculiarities of Prosecution and Indictment of the President of the Slovak Republic: Is Current Legal Regulation Really Sufficient?

Bystrík Šramel, Peter Horváth and Ján Machyniak
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Bystrík Šramel: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Peter Horváth: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Ján Machyniak: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia

Social Sciences, 2019, vol. 8, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: In a democratic state following the principle of rule of law, every person (including state authorities) must bear a legal liability for an unlawful act committed. However, recent socio-political events in Slovakia have brought to the forefront a number of legal questions regarding the liability of the head of the state for his unlawful acts. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine the current legal regulation of presidential liability, which belongs to one of the controversial issues of the Slovak legal order. At the same time, it is an issue which is not a frequented subject of legal science (jurisprudence) research. Therefore, its examination and critical evaluation is necessary. However, the aim of the paper is not only to point out to the current legal regulation of this relatively unexplored legal institution, but also to show its seamy sides and to present a comprehensible and reasonable legal opinion relating to key characteristics of legal liability of the President of the Slovak Republic. The authors are of the opinion that the legal regulation of the liability of the President of the Slovak Republic is extremely brief. In addition, it contains a number of ambiguities and questions which, in the future, can cause a lot of complications in the eventual prosecution of the president. For this reason, it is more than desirable to resolve at least some of the issues referred to in the paper before the dispute arises. In every democratic state it is essential that the terms of application of legal institutions or legal provisions are understandable, clear, and certain. In the case of the institution of liability of the Slovak President, this requirement is certainly not fulfilled.

Keywords: president; Slovak Republic; prosecution; indictment; legal liability; Constitution of the Slovak Republic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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