Slovakia: Law of 1995 on the State Language of the Slovak Republic

The Slovak National Council, based on the fact that the Slovak language is the most important distinctive feature of the uniqueness of the Slovak nation, the most precious asset of its cultural heritage, the expression of the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic, and the general tool of communication for her citizens, which, on the territory of the Slovak Republic, secures their freedom and equality in their dignity and their rights, as well[1], has enacted the following law.

ARTICLE 1
Introductory Provisions

(1)On the territory of the Slovak Republic, the Slovak language[2] is the state language.

(2)The state language enjoys precedence over other languages used on the territory of the Slovak Republic.

(3)The law does not regulate the use of liturgical languages. The use of such languages is regulated by provisions[3] of churches and religious associations.

(4)The law does not regulate the use of the languages of national minorities and ethnic groups. The use of these languages is regulated by separate laws[4]

ARTICLE 2
The State Language and Its Defense

(1)The state

a)provides the necessary conditions in the educational, academic and informational systems to enable each and every citizen of the Slovak Republic to master and use the state language orally and in writing;

b)provides for academic research of the state language, its historical development, research of its local and class-oriented dialects the codification of the state language, and propagation of the linguistic culture.

(2)The codified form of the state language is announced by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to only as Ministry of Culture) based on recommendations by the Slovakist experts of linguistic workplaces.

(3)Interference of any kind in the codified expression of the state language, contrary to its legal integrity, is prohibited.

ARTICLE 3
Use of the State Language in Official Contact

(1)State agencies and entities, organs of the territorial self-governments and public institutions[5] (hereinafter referred to only as public bodies) are obliged to use the state language in exercising their competencies on the entire territory of the Slovak Republic. Proof of adequate proficiency in speaking and writing the state language is a condition to employment or engagement in other work-like situations, and is a prerequisite to completing specified contractual work for public bodies.

(2)All employees and officers of public bodies, transportation and telecommunication employees, as well as members of the armed forces, armed security services, other armed services, and fire departments use the state language in official contacts.

(3)In the state language

a)appear all laws, government decrees and other general, legally binding regulations, including the regulations of the organs of territorial self-governments, resolutions and other public documents;

b)hold all deliberations of public bodies;

c)are recorded all official documents (birth registers, minutes, resolutions, statistics, records, balance sheets, official memoranda, information intended for public dissemination, etc.), and official documents of the churches and religious associations intended for the public.

d)are indicated the official names of communities and their parts, the names of streets and other public places, other geographic terms, as well as data contained in state maps, including cadaster maps; a separate law[6] will regulate the designation of localities in other languages;

e)are recorded the chronicles of communities. Occasional, foreign-language versions must be translations from the state-language.

(4)All public bodies, and all organisations established by them, are obligated to use the state language in every informational system and inter-agency contact.

(5)Citizens prepare all written submissions to public bodies in the state language.

(6)Every citizen of the Slovak Republic has the right to have his first and last names adjusted according to the rules of Slovak orthography free of charge[7].

ARTICLE 4
Use of the State Language in Education

(1)Instruction of the state language in all elementary and secondary schools is compulsory. Any language other than the state language can only be the language of instruction and examination to the extent proscribed by separate regulations[8].

(2)Pedagogues, except for foreign pedagogues and lectors, are obliged to know and use the state language orally and in writing in every school and educational institution on the territory of the Slovak Republic.

(3)All educational documentations are conducted in the state language.

(4)In the Slovak Republic, textbooks and instructional texts used for educational purposes are issued in the state language, except for textbooks and instruction texts used for instruction in national minority and ethnic group languages, and of foreign languages. Separate provisions regulate their publication and use[9].

(5)Dispositions of Paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 do not apply to the use of the state language in higher education, in the instruction of other languages, or in the instruction and training in languages other ⁸ than the state language, as well as to the textbooks and instructional texts used during the course of higher education.

ARTICLE 5
Use of the State Language in Mass Media, Cultural Events and Assembly

(1)On the entire territory of the Slovak Republic, the radio and the television broadcast their programs in the state language. Exceptions are:

a)foreign-language radio shows and those foreign-language television shows that have audiovisual segments and other visual and sound recordings, which are subtitled in the state language, or those shows which otherwise fulfil the requirement of comprehension from the point of view of the state language;

b)the foreign-language programs of the Slovak Radio prepared for transmission abroad, language courses on television and in radio, and programs of a similar nature;

c)original-language musical shows.

Separate provisions[10] regulate the broadcasts in national minority and ethnic group languages.

(2)Other-language audiovisual programs intended for children under the age of 12 must be dubbed in the state language;

(3)Radio and television broadcast operators, announcers, moderators and editors are obligated to use the state language during airtime.

(4)District or local television and radio stations as well as radio transmitters basically broadcast their programs in the state language. Other languages can be used only before or after a given program has been broadcast in the state language.

(5)Periodical and occasional publications are published in the state language. A separate provision[11] regulates press publications issued in other languages.

(6)Occasional press intended for the public, catalogues of galleries, museums and libraries, programs of cinemas, theatres, concerts and other cultural events are published in the state language. Where necessary, they may contain other language translations.

(7)Cultural and educational events are held in the state language or in other languages fulfilling the requirement of comprehension from the point of view of the state language in other ways. Exceptions are the cultural events of national minorities, ethnic groups, and foreign guest artists as well as original-language musical pieces. The programs are first announced (emceed) in the state language.

(8)On the territory of the Slovak Republic every participant of a meeting or lecture has the right to present his speech in the state language.

ARTICLE 6
Use of the State Language in the Armed Forces, Armed Services and Fire Departments

(1)The state language is used in official contacts in the Army of the Slovak Republic, the units of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, the Police Force, the Slovak Information Service, the law enforcement and justice systems of the Slovak Republic, the Railroad Police of the Slovak Republic, and the municipal police forces.

(2)The armed forces, the armed security services, other armed services and the fire departments conduct all their administration and documentation in the state language.

(3)The disposition made in Paragraph 1 does not apply to the air fleet while in fight and the international activity of the armed services.

ARTICLE 7
Use of the State Language in Court and Public Administration Proceedings

(1)Mutual contact between courts and citizens, court proceedings, public administration proceedings occur in the state language, the decisions and minutes of courts and public administrative bodies are issued in the state language.

(2)This does not affect the rights, determined in separate provisions[12], of persons belonging to national minorities and ethnic groups, or to foreigners who do not know the state language.

ARTICLE 8
Use of the State Language in the Economic Sector, Service Industries and Health Care

(1)In the interest of the protection of the consumer, it is compulsory to indicate in the state language the content of domestic or imported goods, users instruction of products (primarily foods and medicines), warranty conditions and other information intended for the consumer[13].

(2)In employment and other similar work-like situations, written legal transactions are formulated in the state language.

(3)Financial and technical documentation, Slovak technical norms, the by-laws of organisations, associations, political parties, political movements, and commercial enterprises are prepared in the state language.

(4)Health care institutions conduct their administration in the state language. Contact between health care employees and patients usually occurs in the state language; if the person in question is a citizen or foreigner unfamiliar wit the state language, then also in such a language in which they can understand each other.

(5)In its proceedings connected to agreements regulating contractual relations, the public body accepts only the state language version of contacts.

(6)All signs, advertisements and notices designed to inform the public, primarily in stores, at sports facilities, in restaurants, on streets, next to and above roads, in airports, at bus stations and railway terminals, in railroad cars, and in mass transit vehicles, must be written in the state language. These can be translated into other languages, but the foreign-language texts have to follow the state-language texts of the same size.

ARTICLE 9
Supervision

ARTICLE 10
Fines

(1)If the illegal condition (Article 9) is not terminated, the Ministry of Culture can levy the following fines;

a)a fine of up to 250,000 Sk for legal entitles violating the responsibilities named in Article 4, Paragraph 4; and Article 8, Paragraphs 1, 3, 5 and 6.

b)a fine of up to 500,000 Sk for legal entities violating the responsibilities named in Article 5, Paragraphs 2 and 4.

c)a fine of up to 50,000 Sk for individuals holding business licences violating the responsibilities named in Article 4, Paragraph 4, Article 5, Paragraphs 2 and 4, Article 8, Paragraphs 1, 3 and 5.

(2)The Ministry of Culture will take into account the seriousness of the violation when determining the amount of the fine.

(3)The fine can be levied not later than one year from the day when the Ministry of Culture determined a violation of responsibilities, but not later than three years after the violation of responsibilities.

(4)Fines levied in accordance with this law become payable 30 days after the day the decision determining a violation has gone into effect. General public administrative regulations[14] apply to the procedure on levying fines.

(5)Fines levied in accordance with this law will constitute the income of the Pro Slovakia State Cultural Fund[15]

ARTICLE 11
Common and Temporary Provisions

(1)The law does not pertain to the use of those naturalised foreign-language designations and technical terminology or the use of those new foreign-language words for which there is no state language equivalent.

(2)The leaders of public bodies, as well as other legal entities and private individuals (Article 10, Paragraph 1) are responsible for complying with the provisions of this law.

(3)The costs of any modification to informational boards, signs and other texts bringing them in compliance with this law are born by the competent agencies and other legal entities and private individuals. These modifications are to be completed within one year after this law takes effect.

(4)In Article 2, Paragraph 1 Points (a) and (b), Article 3, Paragraphs 1, 2 and Paragraph 3 Points (a), (c), (d), (e), Article 4, Article 5, Paragraphs 5 and 8, Article 6, Paragraph 2 and Article 8, Paragraphs 1-5, the state language is understood to be the codified form of the Slovak language.

ARTICLE 12.
Cancellation Provisions

ARTICLE 13

[1] Constitution of the Slovak Republic Article 12.

[2] Constitution of the Slovak Republic Article 6, Paragraph 1.

[3] Law No. 308/1991 on Freedom of Religion and the Situation of Churches and Religious Associations.

[4] For example, Law No. 141/1961 on Criminal Procedure, according to its newest amendments, the Law on Civil Procedure, Law No. 81/1966 on Periodical Press and Other Telecommunication Instruments, according to its newest amendments, Law No. 29/1984 on the System of Elementary and Secondary Schools (School Law), according to its newest amendments, SNC Law No. 254/1991 on Slovak Television, according to its newest amendments, SNC Law No. 255/1991 on Slovak Radio, according to its newest amendments, Law No. 191/1994 on the Designation of Localities in National Minority Languages.

[5] For example, SNC Law No. 254/1991, according to its newest amendments, SNC Law No. 255/1991, according to its newest amendments, Law No. 273/1994 on Health Insurance, the Financing of Health Insurance, the Creation of the General Health Care Insurance, and the Creation of Sectoral, Company and Civilian Health Insurance Companies, Law No. 274/1994 on Social Security, according to its newest amendments.

[6] SNC Law No. 191/1994.

[7] SNC Law No. 300/1993 on First Names and Surnames Article 7, Paragraph 1.

[8] Law No. 29/1984: Article 3 and Article 3A in light of the modifications of SNC Law No. 171/1990 and No. 230/1994.

[9] Law No. 29/1984: Article 40, according to its newest amendments. Government Decree No. 282/1994 on the Use of Textbooks and Instructional Texts.

[10] SNC Law No. 254/ 1991: Article 3, Paragraph 3, according to its newest amendments. SNC Law No. 255/1991: Article 5, according to its newest amendments.

[11] Law No. 81/1966 on Periodical Press and Other Telecommunication Instruments, according to its newest amendments.

[12] Civil Procedure: Article 18. Law No. 141/1961 on Criminal Procedure Article 2, Paragraph 14, Law No, 36/1967 on Experts and Interpreters. Decree No. 37/1967 of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic on the Implementation of the Law on Experts Interpreters, according to its newest amendments.

[13] Law No. 634/1992 on Consumer Protection: Article 9, Paragraphs 1, 2 and Article 11. SNC Law No. 152/1995 on Food Products.

[14] Law No. 71/1967 on Public Administration Procedure.

[15] SNC Law No. 95/1991 on the Pro Slovakia State Cultural Fund, according to its newest amendments.