Constitutional Court suspends validity of Public Health Act

The Constitutional Court has suspended the validity of the Act on Protection, Support and Development of Public Health, which deals with the right to compensation for damages and lost profits. The court has thus accepted a motion submitted by President Zuzana Čaputová to initiate further proceedings to assess whether the given legislation is constitutional. The president views as unconstitutional a provision stating that the "right to compensation for damages and lost profits caused by compliance with measures under this Act, which apply to a non-specified number of persons, is ruled out". Čaputová maintains that the Slovak Constitution guarantees the right to compensation for damages caused by unlawful decisions or incorrect actions of state bodies. The bill was approved by Parliament in October via a fast-tracked procedure with the aim of clarifying the legal status of injunctions issued by the Public Health Office.