Tthe state's neutrality in religious matters - the slovak approach

• Author: Tomá? Lalík
• Pages: 597-610

597

TOMÁŠ HALÍK*

THE STATE'S NEUTRALITY IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS –

THE SLOVAK APPROACH

SUMMARY

The aim of a modern state is to find the right balance between the notion of neutrality, to

which each state is more or less devoted, and the idea of religion playing a certain role in

democracy. In this context, we want to provide the most crucial aspects of the relationship

between the state and religions in the Slovak republic including the constitutional

regulation, case law of the Slovak Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human

Rights and details on the financing of churches by the state. Finally, the article assesses

the state’s neutrality in practice.

A short introduction to the history

The aim of a modern state is to find the right balance between the

notion of neutrality, to which each state is more or less devoted, and the

idea of religion playing a certain role in democracy. Recent development

has shown the tension between the two in many aspects – ranging from

theory1 to practice, from domestic jurisprudence to international.

Sometimes it even plays a role in appointing judges to the highest courts.2

However, our aim will be to present the Slovak approach to the issue. We

are aware that it is impossible to provide all information, so this paper

concerns only the most visible aspects of the relation between the state

and churches in the Slovak Republic. In order to understand the

relationship we must start with the history.

The history of Christianity has deep roots in Slovakia and religion

plays an important role in society. It is important to stress the year 863

A.D. when two missionaries, St. Cyril and St. Methodius (patrons of

* PhD. candidate at the Faculty of Law, Department of Constitutional Law, Comenius

University, Bratislava, Slovakia.

1 See eg J. WEILER, ’Lautsi: Crucifix in the Classroom Redux‘ (Editorial), (2010) 21

EJIL, pp 1 – 6; A Sajó, ‘The crisis that was not there: Notes on A reply‘(2009) 7 ICON,

pp 515-528; L Zucca, ‘The crisis of the secular state – A reply to Professor Sajó‘, (2009)

7 ICON, pp 494-514; N Gibson, ‘Faith in the Courts: Religious dress and human rights‘,

(2007) 66 Cambridge Law Journal, pp 657-697.

2 See eg the discusion that nominating Elena Kagan of Jewish origin for The

Supreme Court judge would make The Supreme Court without a Protestant judge first

time in its history, onpost.com/2010/04/09/elena-kagan-emerging-

as-s_n_532319.html>, accessed 3 July 2010.