Government Council for National Minorities

The Government Council for Nationalities was first formally established with adoption of a Constitutional Law No. 144/1968 Coll., on situation of nationalities in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It stipulated foundation of the Council in Art. No. 5.

After November 1989, under conditions of then Czechoslovak Federation, the Czech government adopted a resolution (dated on March 13, 1991; No. 72), on the draft Statute of the Council of national minorities (nationalities), the new Statute of the Council.

The Council is an advisory, initiative-taking and co-ordinating body of the Czech Government for matters of policy towards national minorities and their members. The current Council has been established in a sense of § 6 of the Act No. 273/2001 Coll., on rights of members of national minorities and amendment of some acts, as amended.

The currently valid Statute of the Council was adopted by a Government resolution No. 530 dated July 3, 2013. The Council is chaired by a Government member, appointed by the Government upon the proposal of the Prime Minister. The Council has two Chairpersons, the first one represents the public administration, the second one represents the national minorities. The Council as a whole has 31 members, who have been appointed by a Government resolution. They represent following organizations and institutions:

- ministries, on the level of deputy ministers (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Physical Education), Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of International Affairs);

- the Office of the President of the Czech Republic, the Office of Public Protector of Rights and the Government Commissioner for Human Rights;

- fourteen national minorities – Belarusian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, German, Polish, Roma, Ruthenian, Russian, Greek, Slovak, Serbian, Ukrainian and Vietnamese (each national minority nominates one up to two representatives).

Statute here.