Criminally liable legal persons already in Slovakia

Besides other changes to expect (especially) by Slovak legal community in early July 2016 will enter in the force the Act. No. 91/2016 Coll. on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and on Amendments and Supplements of Certain Acts (hereinafter the "Act"). The Act was adopted by the National Parliament of the Slovak Republic on 13 November 2015. Provision 1 of the Act introduces the direct criminal liability of legal entities to the Slovak legal system for the first time, while in other provisions the Act amends its associated regulations (together this includes approximately 80 Acts, which do not contain necessary changes in subordinate legislation).

Since the Slovak Republic is a full member of international organisations (particularly the European Union, the OECD and the Council of Europe), the expectations expressed by these communities need to be reflected in legal enactments. One of those expectations was and is the imposition of criminal liability of legal persons. By implementing this Act, the Slovak Republic acts as a Party to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, particularly on the regular review in the Plenum WGB / OECD. The most serious default identified was the missing criminal liability of legal persons.