Criminal complaint against a foreign national for a criminal offense committed abroad

Sections 4 through 6 of the Criminal Code define the personal jurisdiction (osobná pôsobnosť) of this Act. Consequently, the Criminal Code will, under certain circumstances, apply to foreign nationals even if the offense was committed abroad.

Pursuant to the Criminal Code, the code shall also apply “to determine the criminality of an act committed outside the territory of the Slovak Republic by a citizen of the Slovak Republic or by a foreign national who holds permanent residence in the Slovak Republic. This Act shall also apply to determine the criminality of a particularly serious felony if the act was committed outside the territory of the Slovak Republic against a citizen of the Slovak Republic and the act is punishable under the law in force in the place where it was committed, or if the place where the act was committed does not fall under any criminal jurisdiction. This Act shall also apply to determine the criminality of the unauthorized production of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, poisons or precursors, their possession and trafficking therein; the counterfeiting, alteration and unauthorized production of money and securities, the uttering of counterfeited, altered and unauthorizedly produced money and securities, the manufacture and possession of counterfeiting equipment; the counterfeiting, alteration and unauthorized production of excise stamps, postal stamps, labels and postmarks; the counterfeiting and alteration of technical control measures for marking goods; the establishment, conception and supporting of a terrorist group or a member thereof; the unauthorized production and possession of nuclear materials, radioactive substances, high-risk chemical substances, and high-risk biological agents and toxins; conspiracies against the Slovak Republic, terror, subversion, sabotage, espionage, an attack on a public authority, an attack on a public official; the counterfeiting and alteration of a public instrument, an official seal, an official closure, an official emblem and an official mark; endangering confidential and restricted information; migrant smuggling; endangering peace, genocide, a terrorist attack, certain forms of participation in terrorism, the financing of terrorism, traveling for the purpose of terrorism, inhumanity, the use of a prohibited weapon or means of combat and unlawful conduct of hostilities, pillage in an area of military operations, the abuse of internationally recognized emblems and national symbols, war cruelty, persecution of a population, and war lawlessness, even if such a criminal offense was committed outside the territory of the Slovak Republic by a foreign national who does not hold permanent residence in the Slovak Republic. This Act shall also apply to determine the criminality of an act committed outside the territory of the Slovak Republic by a foreign national who does not hold permanent residence in the Slovak Republic, provided that: a) the act is also punishable under the law in force in the territory where it was committed, b) the perpetrator was detained or arrested within the territory of the Slovak Republic, and c) the perpetrator was not extradited to a foreign state for criminal prosecution.”

The Code of Criminal Procedure permits the filing of a criminal complaint within the territory of the Slovak Republic even if the criminal offense occurred abroad. If the law enforcement authorities determine that they lack jurisdiction to act in the matter, they will transfer your case abroad on the basis of the European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters (Notice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic No. 551/1992 Coll.) (hereinafter referred to as the “Convention”). The investigation will subsequently be conducted in accordance with the applicable law of the affected State.

In accordance with Article 6, Paragraph 1 of the Convention, when a person is suspected in a contracting State of having committed an offense, that State may request another member State to institute proceedings.

The Convention sets forth several conditions under which a State may request a contracting State to institute proceedings:

• if the suspected person is ordinarily resident in the requested State;

• if the suspected person is a national of the requested State or if that State is his/her state of origin;

• if it considers that the transfer of proceedings is compatible with the interests of the proper administration of justice, and particularly if the most important items of evidence are located in the requested State;

• if it considers that the enforcement in the requested State of a sentence if passed is likely to improve the prospects of the social rehabilitation of the person sentenced;

• if it considers that the presence of the suspected person cannot be ensured at the hearing in the requesting State, whereas his/her personal presence at the hearing in the requested State can be ensured;

• if it considers that it could not itself enforce a sentence if passed, even by having recourse to extradition, whereas the requested State could do so.

You may lodge a criminal complaint at any prosecutor’s office or police station. In the event that you file the criminal complaint at a prosecutor’s office, it is standard practice for the prosecutor to forward it to a police officer or an investigator, and notify you of this action via a brief written notice. It is also permissible to file a criminal complaint orally into the record before a court, which the court shall then forward to the prosecutor.

A criminal complaint may be submitted in writing, orally into the record, or by electronic means.

It is necessary to provide the most detailed and precise information possible regarding the commission of the criminal offense.

Upon receiving your criminal complaint, the law enforcement authority shall decide on the subsequent procedural steps within 30 days.