Slovakia's Constitutional Court suspends law abolishing Whistleblower Protection Office

Slovakia’s constitutional court on Wednesday announced that it had suspended a law abolishing the country’s whistleblower protection office, after protests in recent days. A group of 63 parliamentarians petitioned the court, which said in a statement that the law was suspended pending a ruling on its merits. “It’s good news for justice in Slovakia,” said the deputy head of the Progressive Slovakia party, Zuzana Stevulova. Slovakia’s prosecutor general Maros Zilinka said the suspension will “prevent the possible negative and irreparable consequences of the new legislation”, and allow checks to see if it complies with the constitution and the country’s EU obligations. The interior ministry stressed that the court ruling was only a suspension. “We are convinced that (the court) will confirm the validity of the law and that it will come into force,” said ministry spokesman Matej Neumann in a statement. Slovakia’s parliament voted to abolish the whistleblower protection bureau on December 9 and replace it with a new body under the authority of the government. NGOs have criticised the move as an attempt to muzzle criticism of corruption. The court also announced that it had declared as unconstitutional a law adopted in April requiring NGOs to declare who funds them and reveal the identities of their biggest donors and their members.
Read the full article here: Euractiv