Accountability of public officials
- System of accountability of public officials for unlawful exercise of their powers
- Transparent and effective disposal of public poverty
In their daily lives citizens are confronted with situations when elected representatives or government officials exercise their powers unlawfully. Some of those situations are related to management and disposal of public property. These actions have often widespread economical effects. However, holding a specific person – the public official who caused the situation – liable for its outcomes, is rare in Slovakia. Therefore it is important that the legal system establishes rules for accountability of public officials as well as rules for disposal of public property.
In 2009 and 2010 VIA IURIS pushed forward two ground-breaking amendments clarifying rules for disposal of municipal property (amendment I., amendment II. available in Slovak). The law on municipal property and law on property of higher territorial units now contain requirements that transfer and lease of property is done transparently and in a public competition. Moreover the amendment gave residents of concerned municipality right to challenge unlawful actions of their municipalities at court.
In 2010 the first electronic sale of the property, in accordance with the above legislative amendment, has been carried out. The outcome of this sale has been by 200 000 euro higher price compared to the price estimated by an expert opinion. This is the amount saved from this transaction for the municipal budget.
In July 2011 we finalized a work on a complex legal analysis concerning accountability of public officials (available only in Slovak). Our focus is to review legal framework, application of relevant laws and evaluate efficiency of the system. In the analysis we use comparative approach, looking at systems of accountability in Germany, Austria and USA. Our preliminary observation is that legal mechanisms for accountability of public officials are inadequate in the Slovak legal system: disciplinary accountability, which plays a leading role abroad, has been abolished; criminal liability is applied in a very limited way; and holding individual public official accountable by seeking compensation for damages caused by his/her conduct are, according to our findings, not applied.
Based on its results we will prepare and present our legislative theses aiming to establish all three pillars of accountability of public officials: disciplinary, criminal and civil liability.
