Legal framework or WHAT DOES LAW SAY?

The Constitution of the Slovak Republic is the fundamental document that prohibits race, nationality and ethnic discrimination in Slovakia. It contains the Bill of basic rights and freedoms and regulates state's duties toward its citizens or other residents. According to article 12 paragraph 1 of the constitution "People are free and equal in dignity and rights."

The prohibition of discrimination is closely specified in clause 2, stating that basic rights and freedoms in the Slovak Republic are guaranteed to "all no matter what gender, race, color of skin, language, religion and belief, political or other thought, national or social origin, affiliation to nation or ethnic group, possession, descent or other status".

Due to these reasons it is not possible to harm anyone, privileged or unprivileged. According to the constitution, only law can limit basic rights and freedoms. Further, such restrictions must not threaten the essence and purpose of rights and freedoms and must be utilized only for the protection of values precisely stated in the constitution, for example the public order, health, morality, rights and freedoms of others. In democratic society, rights and freedoms can only be restricted if it is inevitable. In article 33 of the constitution, it is stated that: "Affiliation to any national minority or ethnic group must not be to the harm of anyone."

The prohibition of discrimination on basis of race or ethnicity is guaranteed by several significant human rights documents that are binding for the Slovak Republic, from which the best-known are:

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was acceded to by socialist Czechoslovakia in 1976 and has been binding to the present. The pact in article 26 prohibits all types of discrimination and guarantees equal rights. The UN Human Rights Committee oversees its maintenance.
• As race discrimination is considered to be a fairly serious issue in the UN field, a special international treaty has been ratified – the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination oversees its maintenance. The convention is binding in Slovakia and prohibits all forms of discrimination, including racial segregation. It also prohibits the spreading of racist propaganda and commits signatory states to guarantee effective means of legal protection to the racial discrimination victims.
• Another significant document is the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, that in article 14 guarantees the prohibition of discrimination while exercising the rights anchored in the convention.

These international agreements protect us (similarly to the Constitution of the SR) from active and passive discrimination coming from state institutions, although they do not provide us with full protection from the discriminatory action of private bodies.

On these grounds, the European Union passed antidiscrimination directives. The most relevant regarding the matter of this article is the Council Directive no. 2000/43/EC adressing equal treatment with persons regardless of their racial or ethnic origin. In the year 2004, the Slovak Republic fulfilled its obligation and ratified the Antidiscrimination Law, transposed the EU antidiscrimination directives to its legal structure. The Antidiscrimination Law prohibits discrimination by state authorities and other public administration bodies (i.e. municipalities) as well as private bodies. Also, it defines each form of discrimination in detail. Furthermore, it constitutes the legal means of coping with discrimination by its victims.

The prohibition of discrimination is also partially comprised in laws and directives of the SR, always in relation to issues of concern.