27 October 2022 – Online conversation
The second dissemination event took place on October 27, 2022, it was a webinar for PhD students on the topic “National and community symbols in the Czech Republic, their use and protection.” The webinar was held online, via Zoom.
Initially, the webinar participants were welcomed. It was stated that the workshop is a part of the Central European Professors’ Network project, which is guaranteed by the Central European Academy, an institution established by the University of Miscolc in Hungary.
After that, the main paper of this webinar with the topic “Symbols of national minorities in the Czech Republic and their protection” was presented. The paper was prepared and presented by associate professor Kateřina Frumarová from the Faculty of Law of Palacky University in Olomouc (Czech Republic), who is a member of one of the research teams within the above-mentioned project. The length of the presentation was about 60 minutes.
For every state, including the Czech Republic, various communities are very important: they fulfil certain roles and contribute to the development and formation of values, the fulfilment of rights and freedoms, or the achievement of other goals and needs in the society. These communities and their members always share certain common goals, values and attitudes. They are also often interconnected by a common history, traditions or cultural and other customs. All these elements identify the community both internally and strengthen its internal structure, at the same time they characterize and define this community externally. The status and mission of these communities reflect the symbols used by these communities (both internally and externally). The important communities in the Czech Republic undoubtedly include national minorities.
The paper was therefore focused in detail on the issue of symbols of national minorities in the Czech Republic. Even though the protection of national minorities and the rights of their members is generally enshrined in the constitutional legal norms, no attention has been paid to the issue of symbols of minorities, their use or legal protection (neither within the framework of Czech legislation, nor within the framework of Czech doctrine or practice). Therefore, the paper tried to subsume the right to use the symbols of national minorities to the existing legislation and to abstract from this general regulation the basic principles and rules of the use of these symbols by members of minorities in practice. Another goal was to bring closer the means of legal protection of this right in the Czech legal system. Again, this is a question that has not been resolved in detail, while it is based on partial and fragmented legislation. Nevertheless, the goal was to define the means of protection both within the framework of constitutional law, as well as administrative and criminal law. On the basis of the above-mentioned analysis, proposals and recommendations de lege ferenda were formulated.
The first part of the paper was focused on national minorities and their position in the Czech Republic from the point of view of constitutional law. The regulation of national minorities in the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms was analysed. The basic terms “nation, nationality and national minority” were characterized and explained. Article 3 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms states that everyone “has the right to decide freely on their nationality”. At the same time, it explicitly forbids influencing a person’s decision-making about their nationality, and all forms of coercion leading to denationalization are also prohibited. The Charter further stipulates that the citizens forming national minorities are guaranteed all-round development, in particular the right to develop their own culture together with other members of the minority, the right to disseminate and receive information in their mother tongue and to associate in the national associations. The second part of the presentation was devoted to the issue of the right of national minorities to use their own symbols. The Czech Republic and its legal system protects and supports the all-round development of national minorities. This support covers a number of areas, such as the development of culture, traditions, the use of the mother tongue, etc. The right of members of national minorities to use the symbols of these minorities is not explicitly enshrined in the Czech legal order. However, it can undoubtedly be subsumed to the more general right to all-round development, the development of the culture and traditions of the minority, including its outward expression.
As for the use of symbols of national minorities, there is also no explicit legal regulation in the Czech Republic. The majority of members of national minorities in the Czech Republic claim a nationality that is linked to some of the foreign states (Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland, etc.). It is therefore obvious that these members will in practice mainly use the state and other national symbols of these foreign states. However, the Czech legislation does not contain legal regulation of the use of foreign state symbols. The same applies to a specific national minority, the Roma minority, which is not connected to any of the foreign states, but also has its own symbols. Czech law does not explicitly reflect on their use either. In this regard, the author concluded that even the Act regulating the Use of State Symbols of the Czech Republic cannot be applied to these situations on the basis of an analogy. Therefore, the author introduced basic rules and principles that should be at least respected. The principle of legality is of primary importance, i.e., these symbols shall be used in such a way as not to violate the prohibitions or orders established by the Czech legal order (the application of the rule that you can do anything that is not prohibited by law). Furthermore, this right must not be abused. Finally, the symbols of national minorities shall be used in an appropriate and dignified way, always with regard to each specific occasion. De lege ferenda, it would be desirable for Czech law to establish at least basic rules for the use of symbols of foreign states on the territory of the Czech Republic.
In the last part of the paper, an analysis of the means of legal protection of the realization of the right to use the symbols of national minorities was carried out. The same applies here as has already been said several times above. The legal regulation is fragmented and insufficient. Even so, the protection cannot be waived, as the state (public authority) has an obligation to ensure the protection of the undisturbed exercise of this right. Legal protection is provided by constitutional law (especially in the form of a constitutional complaint), administrative law (especially in the form of liability for misdemeanours) and criminal law (liability for criminal offences). Some means of protection are directly linked to the protection of the rights of national minorities, while others generally serve to protect the exercise of any right or freedom. A positive aspect of the protection of the rights and status of national minorities in the Czech Republic is the element of institutionalization of this protection at the national, regional and local level.
This main paper was followed by three briefer co-papers prepared by doctoral students. The first paper was focused on the symbols of territorial self-governing units in the Czech Republic and their protection. The territorial self-governing units are one of the most important communities in the Czech Republic. They can be characterized as a territorial community of citizens who have the right to self-government. The idea of self-government is compatible only with democracy, based on a plurality of social and political interests, and as such rests on a partnership between the state and public corporations as self-governing entities. The right to territorial self-government is a constitutionally guaranteed right. Municipalities, and the higher territorial self-governing units are regions are the basic territorial self-governing units. The coat of arms and the flag are the basic symbols of the territorial self-governing units (municipalities and regions). The issue of the coat of arms and the flag is regulated by the Municipalities Act , the Regions Act and the Act regulating the Capital City of Prague. The Constitution of the Czech Republic does not deal with them. The paper was devoted to the means of legal protection of these symbols and to their use.
The second co-paper was focused on the issue of some national symbols of the Czech Republic – especially on national holidays, state honours, the capital city of Prague and the Czech language. In addition to “official” state symbols of the Czech Republic, there are other artifacts that embody the Czech state and the Czech nation, both externally and internally. These symbols express the distinctive existence of the Czech Republic and its nation, recall its history and reflect the generally held values and ideas of the state and society. It can therefore be said that they perform similar functions as the state symbols of the Czech Republic. There are a number of such symbols, but there is no legal catalogue of them. The national symbols, or some of them, are enshrined in the legal system and are legally protected. In addition, other normative systems provide protection, such as a system of moral norms or customary norms. The list of “unofficial symbols of the Czech Republic” is not enshrined anywhere. However, it can be generally agreed that these “other” national symbols in the Czech Republic include national holidays, state honours, the name of the country “Czech Republic”, the capital city of Prague, the motto “Truth wins”, coronation jewels, the national tree (a lime) and the Czech language. The paper analysed some of these unofficial symbols in detail, specifically national holidays, state honours, the capital city of Prague and the Czech language.
The last paper focused on symbols of churches and religious societies and their protection in the Czech Republic. The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms states that the Czech Republic is based on the democratic values and shall not be bound by an exclusive ideology or religion. The Charter also guarantees freedom of religion to everyone, including the possibility to change it or remain without religion at any time. However, Article 16 of the Charter is the most important, which states that everyone has the right to manifest freely their religion or belief, either alone or in community with others and in public or private. Part of the realization of religious freedom is the use of religious symbols. The paper was focused on how this right is regulated in the Czech Republic and what are the means of its legal protection.
At the end of the workshop, a discussion took place. No questions were asked. Then everyone was thanked for attending the workshop and the workshop was ended.
