A group of citizens, with some of the former members of the Human Rights Protection Committee as the first signatories, is starting to collect 2,500 signatures on an initiative to start the procedures for a subsequent legislative referendum on the amendment to the Parliamentary Inquiry Act. Photo: STA
Collecting signatures for the referendum “against the political police”
Because they believe that the amendment to the Act on Parliamentary Investigation limits constitutional protection and opens up space for political abuse, a group of citizens is collecting signatures for a subsequent legislative referendum.
A group of citizens has started collecting 2,500 signatures under an initiative to start the procedures for a subsequent legislative referendum on the amendment to the Parliamentary Inquiry Act. They believe that the amendment eliminates the fundamental safeguards of the rule of law and opens up space for political abuse. “Until now, the constitutional court protected you from the arbitrariness of politicians when the investigation began. The new law abolishes this and leaves anyone who finds himself out of favor with the policy to reckon with without protection. You can only complain at the end of the investigation, when the damage has already been done. Your reputation is destroyed, and your rights are violated before the court even decides on it,” they accompanied the press conference.
The first signatories to the initiative are the former members of the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, which was founded 38 years ago: Franco Juri, Pavel Gantar, Spomenka Hribar, Gregor Tomc, Igor Vidmar, Rastko Močnik and also Vlado Miheljak. According to their assessment, the amended law gives the coalition the opportunity “to intimidate, publicly lynch and politically settle accounts with anyone who opposes it”. That the parliamentary investigation is being turned into a “weapon for harassing the opposition, journalists, academics and civil society”. Signatures are collected via the website politicnapolicija.si.
Limiting the possibility of challenge
The amendment was prepared by SDS and the trio of NSi, SLS and Fokus, and was also supported by Demokrati and Resnica. The possibility of contesting the act ordering an investigation before the Constitutional Court is limited. An assessment of compliance with the Constitution and the law can now only be requested by the Judicial Council or the State Prosecutor General within 30 days of the order of the parliamentary investigation at the Constitutional Court. The adopted amendment also introduces judicial protection in the parliamentary investigation process with the possibility of a lawsuit in an administrative dispute.
Due to violations of human rights, the subject may file a lawsuit in an administrative dispute within eight days from the delivery of the final report of the parliamentary investigative commission. Deputies also cannot order an investigation into the same matter on which the Parliament has already adopted the final report. According to the proponents, the amendment also specifies cases in which a member of parliament may not participate in the investigative committee of the DZ. The novel was opposed by the opposition parties Svoboda, SD and Levica and Vesna. Among other things, they emphasized that the elimination of safeguards and constitutional judicial control enables the abuse of the parliamentary investigation. And they pointed out that the amendment abolishes judicial protection for members of the investigative commission who are designated as an investigator or a witness.
They believe that it is an attempt to silence the opposition, as the parliamentary majority will be allowed to prevent the parliamentary investigation of the opposition. The political majority will also decide on the conflict of interests of MPs, they pointed out. The proponents are also accused of wanting the bypass financing of parties and the media not to be fully investigated. The proponents rejected Svoboda’s amendment to delay the application of the law by one year. The proposal was made that the Constitutional Court can rule on the constitutionality of individual controversial solutions from the law, since the initiatives for the review of constitutionality have already been announced.
Blown fuses
“The amendment eliminates practically all safeguards against political abuse and instrumentalization of parliamentary investigative commissions. While today anyone who is the target of potential abuse can challenge the decision on the establishment of a parliamentary commission and its requirements at the Constitutional Court, if they suspect illegal or unconstitutional behavior, with this amendment the new coalition simply abolishes the right to advance, constitutionally guaranteed legal protection,” the aforementioned initiators of the referendum are critical.
They also drew attention to the current regulation, according to which the judicial council could request the constitutional court to assess whether the act ordering the investigation is consistent with the independence of judges and the judiciary, and such a request stopped the functioning of the commission. According to the amendment, the investigation against the judges can be started even while the proceedings before the Constitutional Court are still ongoing. “By excluding judicial control, the balance of the branches of power is destroyed, which is the first step towards autocratic rule and silencing of criticism,” according to the initiators, who, 38 years after the struggle of civil society for democracy, found that the acquired rights are not self-evident and must continue to be fought for. They were also critical of the process of adopting the changes, which were adopted following an abbreviated procedure, without public debate.
