Legislation

Constitution

(Adopted on September 1, 1992)

(Document Status on September 1, 1992)

Article 6

(1) Slovak is the state language on the territory of the Slovak Republic.

(2) The use of other languages in dealings with the authorities will be regulated by law.

Article 12

(2) Fundamental rights shall be guaranteed in the Slovak Republic to every person regardless of sex, race, color, language, faith, religion, political affiliation or conviction, national or social origin, nationality or ethnic origin, property, birth or any other status, and no person shall be denied their legal rights, discriminated or favored on any of these grounds.

Article 26

(5) State bodies and territorial self-administration bodies are under an obligation to provide information on their activities in an appropriate manner and in the state language. The conditions and manner of execution will be specified by law.

Article 34

(1) The comprehensive development of citizens representing national minorities or ethnic groups in the Slovak Republic is guaranteed, particularly the right to develop their own culture, together with other members of the minority or ethnic group, the right to disseminate and receive information in their mother tongue, the right to associate in national minority associations, and the right to set up and maintain educational and cultural institutions. Details will be set out in a law.

(2) In addition to the right to master the state language, citizens belonging to national minorities or ethnic groups also have, under conditions defined by law, a guaranteed

a) right to education in their own language,

b) right to use their language in dealings with the authorities,

c) right to participate in the solution of affairs concerning national minorities and ethnic groups.

Article 47

(2) Everyone has the right to legal assistance in court proceedings or proceedings before other state or public administration bodies. He has this right from the very start of the proceedings, under conditions defined by law.

(4) Anyone who declares that he does not have a command of the language in which the proceedings according to Section (2) are conducted has the right to an interpreter.

Note: The complete text of the Constitution and further information on the constitutional background of Slovakia are provided by the International Constitutional Law Project at the University of Wuerzburg.

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