Finance Minister Ivan Miklos said today, 5 August, that he believes Supreme Court chairman Stefan Harabin is abusing his public post by obstructing the audit that the Ministry has been trying to conduct at the Court for the past week and a half. Miklos also believes he may also have grounds for bringing criminal charges against Harabin.
Harabin has been refusing entry to Ministry of Finance auditors arguing that the only competent authority to audit the Supreme Court is the Supreme Audit Office (NKU), because the Court uses funds that are approved in Parliament.
If Harabin continues to hold out against the ministry, Miklos plans to impose another EUR 33,000 fine on the Court and another EUR1,000 on Harabin, just as he did last week.
Harabin has even said that by not allowing Ministry of Finance auditors to conduct the audit at the Supreme Court, he has actually prevented Miklos from breaching the law and from attacking the independence of the judiciary. Harabin feels the whole affair has been contrived by Miklos’ coalition colleagues – former justice minister Daniel Lipsic and current minister Lucia Zitnanska, saying it is an act of revenge.