Baránik wants to limit the powers of the Attorney General under Section 363 – SME.sk

BRATISLAVA. The power of the Attorney General to annul a decision under section 363 of the Criminal Procedure Code at issue could be limited. This is proposed by MP Alojz Baránik (SaS) in the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code.

Only the injured party and the person involved could propose a procedure under paragraph, and only to the detriment of the accused. The amendment should be discussed by the parliament at the next ordinary sitting, which begins on 23 November.

The Member proposes to narrow the circle of persons entitled to file a motion for the procedure of paragraph 363 only to the injured party and the person involved, who will be able to propose the annulment of the decision only to the detriment of the accused.

“Likewise, the Attorney General will be able to annul a valid decision ex officio only to the detriment of the accused,” the deputy said in the proposal.

Jurisdiction belongs exclusively to the court

Paragraph 363 states that the Attorney General shall revoke a valid decision of the prosecutor or a police officer if such a decision or in the proceedings preceding him violated the law. He may also do so at the request of the accused and drop the accusation in his favor.

Related article

Related article Matovic’s conclave to purge the state failed. White smoke is still waiting Read

According to Baránik, this power is defined so broadly that it loses the character of an extraordinary remedy. According to him, this makes it possible, for example, to annul not only decisions on the merits but also decisions of a procedural nature.

“Often, this procedure overturns the indictment resolution, which ultimately leads to the cessation of criminal proceedings because the Attorney General will state the illegality of the evidence,” he said.

According to the Member, the resolution on the indictment is annulled at an early stage of the criminal prosecution. He thinks that the power to decide on the guilt or innocence of the accused belongs exclusively to the court.

“Even if the violation of the law in the preparatory proceedings actually occurs, the obligation to take it into account falls within the jurisdiction of the court,” he said in the grounds of his motion. The Member proposes that the amendment be effective from 1 March 2022.

Initiative without the consent of the coalition council

Prosecutor General ‘s Office At the end of the summer, the Slovak Republic lifted the charges against the former director on the basis of paragraph 363 SIS Vladimír Pčolinský, entrepreneur Zoroslav Kollár, financier Jaroslav Haščák, former director of SIS counterintelligence Ľubomír Arpáš and against Arpáš ‘s wife.

Related article

Related article Žilina will apply paragraph 363 whenever the conditions are met Read

In its program statement, the government cabinet undertook to “consistently insist on the prohibition of negative instructions and, inter alia, in this context, will examine the narrowing of the legislation of section 363 of the Criminal Procedure Code to suit its original meaning”. The change of paragraph was also dealt with by the working group for restoring confidence in the rule of law.

Representatives of the coalition from For People and We Are a Family told TASR that the proposal is a Baránik initiative without the consent of the coalition council. MEP Milan Vetrák (OĽANO) explained that it was probably a matter of opening a debate in parliament on the topic of paragraph 363.