Fifth Periodical Report Presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Accordance with Article 15 of the Charter
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Strasbourg, 28 August 2018 MIN-LANG (2018) PR 5 EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES Fifth periodical report presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter SLOVAK REPUBLIC Fifth Report on the Implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in the Slovak Republic Bratislava 2018 2 The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (hereinafter referred to as the "Charter") was signed on behalf of the Slovak Republic in Strasbourg on 20 February 2001. The National Council of the Slovak Republic approved the Charter by Resolution No. 1497 of 19 June 2001. The President of the Slovak Republic ratified it on 20 July 2001 and the instrument of ratification was deposited and registered with the Depositary, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, on 5 September 2001. The Charter entered into force in the Slovak Republic on 1 January 2002 on the basis of Article 19, paragraph 2, of the Charter. The text of the Charter was published in the Collection of Laws under No. 588/2001 Coll. When depositing the instrument of ratification, the Slovak Republic made the following statement: 1. The Slovak Republic declares that it shall apply the adopted Charter in accordance with the Constitution of the Slovak Republic and the relevant international conventions ensuring the equality of all citizens before the law without distinction as to origin, race, religion or nationality in order to promote the European language heritage without prejudice to the use of the official language. 2. The Slovak Republic declares, pursuant to Article 1, paragraph b, of the Charter, that the term "territory in which the regional or minority language is used", also regarding the application of Article 10, shall refer to the municipalities in which the citizens of the Slovak Republic belonging to national minorities form at least 20 % of the population, according to the Regulation of the Government of the Slovak Republic N. 221/1999 Coll., dated 25 August 1999. 3. In accordance with Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Charter, the "regional or minority languages" in the Slovak Republic are the following languages: Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Hungarian, German, Polish, Roma, Ruthenian and Ukrainian. The application of the provisions of the Charter in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2, shall be as follows: Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, German, Polish and Roma languages: Article 8, paragraph 1 a iii; b iii; c iii; d iii; e ii; f ii; g; h; i; Article 9, paragraph 1 a ii/iii; b ii/iii; c ii/iii; d; Article 10, paragraph 1 a iii/iv; paragraph 2 b; c; d; f; g; paragraph 3 c; paragraph 4 a; c; paragraph 5; Article 11, paragraph 1 a iii; b ii; c ii; d; e i; f ii; paragraph 2; paragraph 3; Article 12, paragraph 1 a; b; c; d; e; f, g; paragraph 2; paragraph 3; Article 13, paragraph 1 a; b; c; paragraph 2 c; Article 14 a; Article 14 b, only for the Czech, German and Polish languages. Ruthenian and Ukrainian languages: Article 8, paragraph 1 a ii; b ii, c ii, d ii, e ii, f ii; g; h; i; Article 9, paragraph 1 a ii/iii; b ii/iii; c ii/iii; d; paragraph 3; Article 10, paragraph 1 a iii/iv; paragraph 2 b; c; d; f; g; paragraph 3 c; paragraph 4 a; c; paragraph 5; Article 11, paragraph 1 a iii; b ii; c ii; d; e i; f ii; paragraph 2; paragraph 3; 3 Article 12, paragraph 1 a; b; c; d; e; f, g; paragraph 2; paragraph 3; Article 13, paragraph 1 a; b; c; paragraph 2 c; Article 14 a; Article 14 b, only for the Ukrainian language. Hungarian language: Article 8, paragraph 1 a i; b i; c i; d i; e i; f i; g; h; i; Article 9, paragraph 1 a ii/iii; b ii/iii; c ii/iii; d; paragraph 2 a; paragraph 3; Article 10, paragraph 1 a ii; paragraph 2 a; b; c; d; f; g; paragraph 3 b; c; paragraph 4 a; c; paragraph 5; Article 11, paragraph 1 a iii; b ii; c ii; d; e i; f i; paragraph 2; paragraph 3; Article 12, paragraph 1 a; b; c; d; e; f; g; paragraph 2; paragraph 3; Article 13, paragraph 1 a; b; c; paragraph 2 c; Article 14 a; b. 4. The Slovak Republic declares that Article 8, paragraph 1 e i, relates to the training of teachers, theologians, cultural and education workers without prejudice to teaching in the official language, and the majority of teaching subjects, including the profile ones, will be conducted in the minority language, respecting the legislation of the Slovak Republic in the field of higher education institutions. 5. The Slovak Republic declares that Article 10, paragraph l a ii, Article 10, paragraph 2 a, and Article 10, paragraph 3 b, shall be interpreted without prejudice to the use of the official language pursuant to the Constitution of the Slovak Republic and in accordance with the legal order of the Slovak Republic. 6. The Slovak Republic declares that Article 12, paragraph 1 e, and Article 13, paragraph 2 c, shall be applied provided that the effects of their application are not in conflict with other provisions of the legal order of the Slovak Republic on prohibition of discrimination of the Slovak Republic citizens in labour law relations on the territory of the Slovak Republic. The Slovak Republic has accepted ambitious undertakings, since it has chosen between 49 and 53 provisions (the minimum is 35 provisions) from the third part of the Charter for nine minority languages: Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Hungarian, German, Polish, Roma, Ruthenian and Ukrainian. In terms of the provisions chosen, the languages are divided into three groups: 1) Hungarian, 2) Ruthenian and Ukrainian, 3) other languages. Under the provisions of Part IV of the Charter (Application of the Charter), the Parties are, under Article 15, paragraph 1 (Periodical Reports), obliged to submit to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in the form determined by the Committee of Ministers, a report on their policy under Part II of the Charter and on measures taken to put into effect the provisions of Part III accepted by them. The first report shall be submitted within one year of the Charter entering into force for the given Party and subsequent reports shall be submitted at three-year intervals after the first one. The Parties shall make their reports public in accordance with Article 15, paragraph 2. The Slovak Republic submitted its First Report on the Implementation of the Charter in the Slovak Republic to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe through the 4 Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic in 2003. Then the second, third and fourth implementation reports were submitted in 2008, 2012 and 2015. All previous reports were accepted by the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, thereby completing the individual monitoring rounds with respect to the implementation of the Charter in the Slovak Republic. The Fifth Report on the Implementation of the Charter in the Slovak Republic has been drawn up in accordance with a methodological instruction specifying the revised structure of the three-yearly periodical reports submitted by the Parties to the Charter, which was accepted by the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe on 30 November 2015 (MIN-LANG (2015) 23). It also responds to the recommendations contained in the fourth evaluation report. The basis for drawing up the fifth report was the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the application of the Charter in Slovakia CM/RecCHL(2016)2, as well as the evaluation report by the Committee of Experts MIN- LANG (2015)23. The Fifth Report on the Implementation of the Charter in the Slovak Republic contains updated and comprehensive information on the state and situation of regional or minority languages in Slovakia. It is primarily focused on the presentation of the current state and development of legislation and social practice in the field of protecting and supporting regional or minority languages. 5 Comments by the Slovak Republic on the provisions of the summary of the Fourth Report of the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on the Implementation of the Charter for Languages in the Slovak Republic Executive Summary 1. The Slovak Republic signed and ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2001. The Charter entered into force in the Slovak Republic on 1 January 2002 and it protects Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Polish, Romani, Ruthenian, Ukrainian and Yiddish. 2. All languages, except Yiddish, are covered by different menus under Part III. The situation of these languages varies greatly and this makes the implementation of certain undertakings difficult for several languages. Flexible and specific measures need to be taken in order to make the provisions of the Charter operational, as required by the commitments entered into by the Slovak Republic. 3. The Slovak authorities have recently adopted a Human Rights Strategy, and an Action Plan concerning the rights of persons belonging to national minorities is being prepared. Institutional structures dealing with national minorities and minority languages are in place. A report on the use of minority languages in line with the national legislation is published annually. In 2013, an Advisory Council on education for national minorities and the implementation of the Charter was set up by the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport.