Katarína Tóthová was born in Bratislava, she was a high school classmate of the actor Milan Lasica.[1] She graduated in Law at the Comenius University in Bratislava in 1962. She has been active as a Law Professor at the university since her graduation until at least 2021.[2] In 1989, a fellow Law School professor Milan Čič, who acted as the last Communist prime minister, offered her the post of Justice Minister. At the time Tóthová did not feel ready for the job, fearing that political involvement would discredit her academic work. In 1992 she was offered the Government post again, this time by the prime minister Vladimír Mečiar. Tóthová accepted the offer.
Political career
In the 90s, Tóthová served as Minister of Justice (1993-1994) and Deputy Prime Minister (1994-1998) in two governments of the autocratic prime minister Vladimír Mečiar, accused by the opposition and the European Union of widespread corruption and disrespect for human and civil rights. While Tóthová herself was not personally involved in major scandals, she was a prominent face of the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS)[3] and an outspoken advocate of the government, claiming that Slovakia was a victim of a "systematic campaign of libel and disinformation".[4]
Tóthová was among the Mečiar's loyalist minister who received significant bonuses from the prime minister. After the change of government, some courts ruled that the prime minister was not authorized to pay bonuses to the ministers and that such payments had to be returned, while other courts did not order the former ministers to pay back the bonuses. Tóthová had to pay back over 250,000 Slovak crowns, about a half of what she received, which she saw as discrimination, given that other ministers did not have to pay back the bonus payments they received.[5]
During Tóthová's time in the government, the firm owned by her husband and son in law won many government contracts. According to Tóthová this was not a problem as the firm paid taxes and always delivered on time.[1]
