All contracts entered into from 1 January 2011 onwards between the state and private businesses must be published.
The change is to achieve greater transparency about the use of public funds and has been welcomed by some experts as a significant step towards fighting corruption in the Slovak public sector.
The key points are:
- the change applies to written contracts governed by any law that are entered into with certain state authorities and contain information obtained for public funds or relate to the use of public funds
- there is an exception for contracts agreed to remove the effects of emergencies immediately threatening life, health, property or the environment
- the contracts will come into force on the day after publication (unless the parties agree a later date)
- contracts will be treated as not having been made if not disclosed within three months of being agreed
- terms are invalid if they specify that a contract to perform a continuous or repetitive activity for an indefinite term cannot be terminated and must instead be terminable on no more than three months' notice (or longer where required by law)
- publication must either be in the Central Register of Contracts, the website of the state authority or in the Commercial Journal (depending on the type of party concluding the contract)
- the first publication is decisive where a contract is published in several forms
Law: amendment to the Civil Code and the Act on free access to information
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The original publication date for this article was 02/02/2011.