Slovakia: Legal developments involving corruption watchdog and police dispute

In Slovakia, the Bratislava Regional Prosecutor has overturned a previous refusal to investigate a criminal complaint filed by the Stop Corruption Foundation. The foundation had alleged that the Financial Administration's Criminal Office (KÚFS) acted illegally when investigating a non-profit organization. The prosecutor ruled that suspicions of subsidy fraud fall under the jurisdiction of the Police Force rather than customs or tax criminal investigators, noting that general authority to check tax regulations does not justify the specific investigative methods used by KÚFS.

Separately, the Constitutional Court of Slovakia has accepted a constitutional complaint from a group of police officers associated with Ján Čurilla. This legal challenge follows a dispute with Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok. A previous default judgment had ordered the Minister to apologize for comparing the officers to a convicted criminal and to pay 90,000 euros in compensation. While a regional court had previously overturned that default judgment, the Constitutional Court's decision to accept the complaint means the legal proceedings will continue.