Difference between revisions of "Pozornost', d'akovné, všimné (Slovakia)"

The term všimné best describes ambiguous interactions. It is used today as a euphemism for a bribe, as in the blog headline: ‘Love is such všimné from Heaven, a little bribe, in order to survive life...’ (Láska je také všimné zhora, malý úplatok, aby sa život dal vydržať, a ako vieme, darovanému koňovi sa na zuby hľadieť neodporúča) (Anonymous 2013). Twenty-five years ago, všimné was defined as a jocular term referring to voluntary payment for a service provided (Hegerová 1991:330).

The term pozornosť, by contrast, was dissociated from ‘bribe’ by the sociologist Iveta Radičová (who served in 2010-2012 as Slovakia’s first woman prime minister). Emphasising that it has long been customary in Slovakia to visit a notary, teacher, priest or mayor bearing a small gift, Radičová argued that there is a clear distinction between such traditional ‘elementary decency’ and paying bribes (Topky 2011). In practice, however, it is not always easy to make such a distinction. Just as the tradition of paying tribute for state services was once criminalised (Lovell et al. 2000), in modern societies the size of the gift is usually regulated by anti-corruption legislation. Small gifts and payment, however, remain a matter of individual discretion. Even this is not always unproblematic, however, and much depends on the context. For example, Slovak courts frequently hand down heavy penalties for bribes as small as 5 to 10 Euros paid for putting someone on sick leave without genuine medical justification. These penalties may include a suspended prison sentence and a fine of several hundred Euros. While such sentences have been criticised as too harsh by bloggers and in the press, Judge Hrubala has pointed out that, taken together, such corrupt practices can cost the state and society huge amounts of money paid out in the form of health and social benefits from public insurance funds (Hrubala 2015).