Violations of constitutional rights of the Hungarian minority in the Slovak Republic in the period 1994–1998

The Slovak Republic is a state in which a significant proportion of the population is of Hungarian nationality. The aim of the article is to analyse cases of violations of the constitutional rights and freedoms of the Hungarian minority between 1994 and 1998. Both the constitution of the Slovak Republic, adopted in 1992, and the acts of international law to which Slovakia is a party guarantee the rights and freedoms of national minorities and ethnic groups. Between 1994 and 1998, Slovakia was ruled by a coalition government headed by Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, whose policies led to Slovakia’s isolation in the international arena. During this period, the policy of the Slovak government aimed, on the one hand, at completely marginalising the opposition and, on the other, at restricting the rights of Slovak Hungarians. The study uses the case study method and institutional-legal analysis.

Prosecutor’s Office in the Visegrad Group Countries – History, Comparative Legal Remarks, Cooperation

The public prosecutor’s office is one of the most important state organs responsible for upholding the rule of law and prosecuting crimes. The efficient functioning of the office is one of the guarantees of the implementation of a democratic state ruled by law. After 1989, in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, after independence from Soviet influence, the prosecution authorities began to reform, trying to adapt to the new conditions. The exchange of mutual experiences in this area has a special form in the case of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, i.e. the countries making up the so-called Visegrad Group, within which the prosecutors general meet each year to deepen cooperation. The purpose of this article is to present the principles of the functioning of the prosecutor’s office in the V4 countries and to compare them also from a historical perspective.