SLOVAKIA SLOW ROLLS CORPORATE CRIMINAL LIABILITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000487 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE, EUR/ERA, EEB E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2019 TAGS: PREL OECD LO SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA SLOW ROLLS CORPORATE CRIMINAL LIABILITY LEGISLATION CLASSIFIED BY: Keith A. Eddins, Charge d'Affaires, a.i., State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) On November 4, the Slovak government approved draft legislation on terrorist financing. The accompanying explanatory note caught our eye because it stated that `if the proposed legislative changes creating separate offenses for terrorism financing and corporate criminal liability were not approved,' the Slovaks would be subject to a negative review during the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) plenary in February. Since the draft text contains no provisions on Corporate Criminal Liability (CCL),we sought clarification from the International Affairs Division of the Ministry of Justice. ¶2. (U) MOJ staff attorney Jana Vnukova explained on November 19 that the Ministry had also submitted a draft on CCL, but that the government had withdrawn it from the package before it was approved. According to Vnukova, who has worked for over a decade at the Ministry, there is no chance that the Slovak Parliament will approve CCL legislation prior to the June 2010 elections. ¶3. (C) Vnukova (protected) stated clearly that Vladmir Meciar's HZDS was vehemently opposed to CCL and that no relevant legislation would be adopted while HZDS was a member of the ruling coalition. When we reminded Vnukova of the long-standing OECD requirement that Slovakia adopt a legal regime of corporate criminal liability for bribery of foreign officials, she lamented that Slovakia `looked very bad' in the OECD and was lagging behind most of the region in meeting this requirement. ¶4. (U) We also learned that Prime Minister Fico has not yet responded to the July letter of the Chairman of the OECD Working Group on Bribery regarding this deficiency. In responses to the OECD and to FATF regarding delays in enacting CCL or terrorism financing legislation, Slovak officials continue to claim that the main reason was the proceeding pending before the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of the Special Court on Corruption. There was never any credible connection between the fate of the Special Court and that of corporate criminal liability legislation. But, even if there had been, the case was decided in May. The Constitutional Court ruled that the Special Court was unconstitutional.) Comment ¶5. (C) The Slovak government's stance toward meeting its OECD commitments is disappointing, but not surprising. The government has provided misleading information to OECD partners and it clearly has no intention of fulfilling those commitments anytime in the near future. That the Prime Minister's office has not even bothered to respond to the strongly worded letter of the Chairman of the OECD WGB - sent months ago - is indicative of the disdain with which this government treats criticism. Preserving the space for corrupt practices appears to be a higher priority than meeting these long-standing international commitments. EDDINS