Constitutional Court Rejects Challenge to Foreign Slovaks Law

Kosice/Bratislava, 21 October (TASR) – The Constitutional Court has found no conflict with the Constitution in a transitional provision of an amendment to the Act on Slovaks Living Abroad, which was adopted by Parliament in 2022. The court on Wednesday rejected a challenge to the legislation submitted by Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka. The contested provision concerns support for Slovaks living abroad. It stipulates that written grant agreements concluded before 1 December 2022 are to be assessed, taking their content into account, under the provisions in force as of 1 December 2022. Grant recipients faced the possibility of further funding being suspended. The prosecutor-general argued that the transitional provision breached a prohibition on applying legal rules retroactively. "This results in an inadmissible and unjustified interference with the legal position of entities — expatriate associations and organisations abroad – that concluded agreements with the Office for Slovaks Living Abroad for grants from the office's budget before 1 December 2022," said Zilinka when filing the challenge. mf/df