Constitution

Slovakia 1992 Constitution (reviewed 2017)

Table of Contents

CHAPTER EIGHT. The Prosecutor’s Office of the Slovak Republic and THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR OF RIGHTS

Part One. The Prosecutor’s Office of the Slovak Republic

Article 149

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Slovak Republic protects rights and the legally protected interests of natural and legal persons and the state.

Article 150

The Prosecutor’s Office is headed by the Prosecutor General who is appointed and recalled by the President of the Slovak Republic at the proposal of the National Council of the Slovak Republic.

Article 151

Details on appointing and recalling prosecutors and on their rights and duties, as well as on the organization of the Prosecutor’s Office, shall be laid down by law.

Part Two. The Public Protector of Rights

Article 151a

  1. The Public Protector of Rights is an independent body of the Slovak Republic which, within the scope and as laid down by law, protects basic rights and freedoms of natural and legal persons in proceedings before public administration bodies and other bodies of public authority, if their conduct, decision-making, or inaction, is in conflict with the legal order. In cases laid down by law, the Public Protector of Rights may participate in holding the persons working in the public administration bodies accountable, if those persons violated a basic human right or freedom of natural or legal persons. All bodies of public authority shall give the Public Protector of Rights necessary assistance.
  2. The Public Protector of Rights may file a motion with the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic to initiate a proceeding pursuant to Article 125, if a generally binding regulation is violating a basic human right or freedom granted to a natural or legal person.
  3. The Public Protector of Rights is elected by the National Council of the Slovak Republic for a period of five years from candidates proposed by at least 15 Members of Parliament. Any citizen of the Slovak Republic who can be elected to the National Council of the Slovak Republic and reached 35 years of age on the election day may be elected the public protector of rights. The Public Protector of Rights may not be a member of any political party or political movement.
  4. The office of the Public Protector of Rights terminates on the day the court decision becomes effective by which a Public Protector of Rights was sentenced for a deliberate criminal act, or by which a Public Protector of Rights was sentenced for a criminal act and the court did not rule in his case on a conditional suspended execution of the prison sentence, or by the loss of eligibility.
  5. The National Council of the Slovak Republic may recall the Public Protector of Rights if his state of health prevents him over the long term, for a period of at least three months, to properly discharge his duties.
  6. Details on the election and recall of the public defender of rights, on the scope of powers of the Public Defender of Rights, on the conditions of discharging of the function, on the manner of legal protection, on the filing of motions to iniciate proceedings before the Constitutional Court pursuant to Article 130.1.f and on asserting rights of natural persons and legal persons shall be laid down by a law.