(non-official translation)

The National Assembly,

declares that it regards the right to national and ethnic identity as a universal human right, that the special individual and collective rights of national and ethnic minorities are fundamental rights of freedom, which it will respect and enforce in the Republic of Hungary.

In their entirety these rights are neither a gift from the majority nor the privilege of the minority, nor is their basis the numerical proportion of the national and ethnic minorities within the majority nation, but the right to be different, which is based on respect for the freedom of the individual and for social harmony.

In declaring the notions of equality and solidarity, and the principles of the active protection of minorities, the National Assembly is guided by respect for minorities, esteem for moral and historical values, and the consistent representation of the shared vital interests of the minorities and the Hungarian nation within the framework of recognised universal moral and legal norms.

The mother tongue, the intellectual and material culture, the historical traditions of the national and ethnic minorities who are Hungarian citizens and live in Hungary, and other characteristic qualities which support their minority status are considered aspects of their identity as individuals and as a community.

All these are special values, the preservation, cultivation and augmentation of which is not only a basic right of the national and ethnic minorities, but also in the interest of the Hungarian nation, and ultimately in that of the community of governments and nations.

In consideration of the fact that self-governments form the basis of democratic systems, the establishment of minority self-governments, their operation and the resulting cultural autonomy is regarded by the National Assembly as one of the fundamental preconditions of the special enforcement of the rights of minorities.

In view of the historical co-existence of the Hungarian majority with national and ethnic minorities, the National Assembly guarantees, also through this Act, all the rights of persons belonging to minorities as Hungarian citizens and their communities; ensuring not only their human rights, but also political rights that enable them to promote the preservation of their national or ethnic identities. The aim of this Act is to establish the institutional basis necessary to ensure that citizens can lead the lives of members of national or ethnic minorities as laid down in the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on Co-operation and Security in Europe in 1975, including the freedom to maintain living and free contacts with the kin state and mother country. In preparing this Act, the National Assembly of the Republic of Hungary is guided by the vision of the establishment of a Europe without frontiers, reduction and elimination of the disadvantages which result from living in a minority, and the development of the democratic institutional structures necessary to achieve these goals.

To achieve these objectives, the National Assembly has formulated the following Act to record the due rights of persons and their communities belonging to national and ethnic minorities so as to ensure the enforcement of these rights and to regulate the means of enforcement - while observing the provisions of international law, the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Paris Charter, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the principles laid down in the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary:

Basic Provisions

Article 1
(1) This Act applies to all persons of Hungarian citizenship living in the Republic of Hungary who consider themselves members of any national or ethnic minority and to the communities of these people.

(2) For the purposes of the present Act a national or ethnic minority (hereinafter 'minority') is any ethnic group with a history of at least one century of living in the Republic of Hungary, which represents a numerical minority among the citizens of the state, the members of which are Hungarian citizens, and are distinguished from the rest of the citizens by their own language, culture and traditions, and at the same time demonstrate a sense of belonging together, which is aimed at the preservation of all these, and the expression and protection of the interests of their communities, which have been formed in the course of history.
(…)

Article 3
(1) Minorities living in Hungary share the power of the people: they are components in the formation of the state [Article 68 par (1) of the Constitution]. Their culture is part of the culture of Hungary.

(2) The right to national or ethnic identity is a fundamental human right, and is legally due to any individual or community.

(3) Every minority has the right to exist and continue to exist as an national or ethnic community.

(4) Each minority community, or the members of such communities, has the right to lead an undisturbed life in their country of birth, and maintain contact with their homeland. The right to have a country of birth not only means that the individual has a right to his/her own place of birth, but also to the place of birth or residence of his/her parents, or the people who raised them, their ancestors, as well as the freedom to relate to the former homeland and its culture, and the protection of these rights.

(5) Any form of discrimination against minorities is prohibited.

Article 4
(1) The Republic of Hungary prohibits any policy that

- aims at, or leads to, the assimilation of a minority into the majority nation;

- aims to alter the national or ethnic conditions of territories inhabited by minorities to the disadvantage of the minorities;

- persecutes a national or ethnic minority or any of its members because of their national status, makes their living conditions more difficult, or prevents them from exercising their rights;
(…)

(2) The Republic of Hungary, through its international relations, undertakes to act against any political intentions that might result in any of the consequences listed in par (1). It also strives to provide protection against such a policy through international legal mechanisms and by international agreements.
(…)

Article 5
(1) In the Republic of Hungary minorities have a constitutional right to establish local and national self-governments.

(2) The basic function of minority governments is to protect and represent the interests of minorities by performing their duties and exercising their statutory authority.

(3) To assist them in performing these duties, this Act regulates the process of establishing a self-government, its rights and obligations, the terms of its operation, and its relations with governmental bodies.

Individual Minority Rights

Article 10
Participation in public life by a person belonging to a minority must not be restricted. Members of minorities may establish societies, parties, and other civil organisations to express and protect their interests - in accordance with the regulations of the Constitution.

Article 11
A person belonging to a minority has the right to respect minority traditions concerning family life, to cultivate family relationships, to celebrate family feasts in his/her mother tongue, and to require that the religious services associated with these feasts be performed in his/her mother tongue.

Article 12
(1) A person belonging to a minority has the right to choose his/her own first name and the first name of his/her child freely, to have the first and last name of his/her child registered under the conventions governing the writing of the mother tongue, and to indicate the names in official documents as long as this complies with applicable provisions. If the names are not registered using Latin characters, it is compulsory to give the phonetic representation of the names with Latin letters.

(2) If requested, the registration of births and the compilation of other personal documents - as listed in par (1) - may also be bilingual.

Article 13
Persons belonging to a minority have the right to

a) learn, foster, enrich and pass on their mother tongue, history, culture and traditions;

b) participate in education and cultural activities in their mother tongue;

c) have their personal data related to their minority status protected as determined by a separate Act.

Article 14
Persons belonging to minorities have the right to maintain contacts with state and community institutions in their kin state and/or with nations as defined by the use of a language, and also with minorities living in other countries.
Rights of Minorities as Communities

Article 15
The preservation, fostering, strengthening and passing on of their minority identity is the unalienable collective right of minorities.

Article 16
It is the right of minorities to cultivate and develop their historical traditions and language, to preserve and enrich their intellectual culture, and their culture as incarnated by physical objects.

Article 18
(1) Public service television and radio stations - as provided for in a separate Act - will ensure that national and ethnic minority programmes are produced and broadcast on a regular basis.

(2) On territories inhabited by minorities, the government - through international contracts - will promote the reception of radio and television programmes from the kin state.

(3) Minority communities have the right to

a) initiate the creation of the necessary conditions for kindergarten, primary, secondary and higher education in the mother tongue or 'bilingually' (i.e. in the mother tongue and in Hungarian);

b) establish a national educational, training, cultural and scientific institutional network of their own within the boundaries of existing laws.
(...)

Article 19
Minorities and their organisations have the right to establish and maintain extensive and direct international contacts.

Article 20
(1) Minorities have the right - as determined in a separate Act - to be represented in the National Assembly.

(...)

(3) The Ombudsman for National and Ethnic Minority Rights shall have the authority to act on issues which fall within the scope of this Act.

The Governments of Minorities

Article 22
(1) A municipal government may declare itself a minority municipal government if more than half the members of the elected body have been elected as candidates of one national or ethnic minority.

(...)

Article 23
(1) In accordance with the provisions of Articles 51-54 of Act LXIV of 1990 on the election of local government representatives and mayors, amended by Article 64 of this Act, electors may create minority self-governments by direct election (hereinafter `directly formed local minority self-government').

(2) The minimum membership of directly formed local minority self-governments is 3 in the case of settlements with a population of 1,300 or lower, whereas in settlements with a population of over 1,300 - including a district of the capital city - the minimum is 5, and in the capital city itself it is 9.
(...)

Article 29
(1) Concerning the issues of local basic education, local media, the promotion of local traditions and culture, and the collective usage of the language, any municipal government decree affecting the minority population in their capacity as such may be made by the board of representatives only with the approval of the minority self-government representing this population.

(...)

Article 30
(...)
(2) Minority organisations, institutions and associations may submit applications focusing on national culture, education, science, etc., to state funding organisations under the same conditions as minority municipal governments and local minority self-governments.

The scope of authority and duties of the national self-government

Article 36
(1) The national self-government represents and protects the rights of the minority represented by it at a national and area (regional, county) level. With a view to the establishment of the cultural autonomy of the minority it may establish institutions and co-ordinate their activities.

(...)

Article 38
(1) The national self-government may

(a) state its opinion on bills concerning the minority represented by it, including regulations issued by the general assemblies of counties and the capital city;

(b) seek information from public administrative bodies with relation to issues concerning minority groups, may make proposals to them, and may initiate measures in cases within their authority;

(c) co-operate with public bodies with the necessary authority and competence in the professional supervision of the primary, secondary and higher education of the minorities it represents;

The Cultural and Educational Autonomy of Minorities

Article 42
In accordance with this Act the following languages are deemed languages used by minorities: Bulgarian, Gypsy ('Romani' and 'Beash'), Greek, Croatian, Polish, German, Armenian, Romanian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian and Ukrainian.

Article 43
(1) The state recognises the mother tongues of minorities as a factor contributing to community cohesion, and supports their teaching - where requested - in educational institutions which are not under the authority of minority municipal governments in accordance with the provisions of paras (2) and (4), and

Articles 44-49.
(2) In accordance with the decision of their parents or guardian, children belonging to a minority will be and may be educated in their mother tongue, 'bilingually' (in their mother tongue and in Hungarian), or in Hungarian.

(3) The education of minorities in their mother tongue or 'bilingually' may be provided in minority kindergartens, schools, or in classes or groups within schools, according to local possibilities and demands.

(4) At the request of the parents or legal representatives of eight students belonging to the same minority group, it is compulsory to establish and run a minority class or group.

Article 44
The extra costs of minority education in the mother tongue or 'bilingually' as provided for in Article 43 - in line with the provisions of the law - are to be met by the state as well as the municipal government.

Article 45
(1) In the course of the legal regulation of education and higher education, the choice of the content and the structure of educational activity and the supervision of such activity, in line with this Act, cultural and educational interests corresponding to the cultural autonomy of minorities have to be enforced.

(2) To relieve the disadvantages of the Gypsy minority in the field of education specific educational conditions may be introduced.

(3) In educational institutions established for minorities in accordance with paras (3)-(4) of Article 43. (3)-(4) it will be ensured that students acquire a knowledge of their people, the history of their minority and its motherland, as well as its cultural traditions and values.

Article 46
(1) Municipal governments and minority self-governments will co-operate in assessing the demand for minority education and in the organisation of such education.

(2) It is the duty of the state to train native teachers to provide education in the mother tongue or 'bilingually' to minorities.

(3) The state will ensure, also through international agreements, that members of minorities participate in full-time and part-time training, further training, and scientific training at foreign institutions which teach in the relevant minority language and foster that culture.

(4) To act in accordance with the provisions of par (2) the state shall support the employment in Hungary of visiting lecturers from the mother country or from the linguistic region of the minority concerned.

(5) If persons belonging to minorities pursue their studies in countries where there are universities, colleges and other educational institutions which run their courses in the mother tongue of that person and cultivate the culture of the community s/he belongs to, the degrees, diplomas and other certificates the student is awarded there - within the authority of applicable laws and international agreements - must be considered equivalent to the appropriate degrees, diplomas and certificates obtained in the Republic of Hungary.
(...)

Article 48
(1) Those who do not belong to the minority concerned may only study in educational institutions for minorities if the institutions still have places available after satisfying the needs of the minority. The admission of students (enrolment) will occur on the basis of regulations made public in advance.

(2) The teaching of the Hungarian language - carried out in as many classes as necessary and at the standard necessary to acquire the language - will also be ensured in educational institutions for minorities.

(3) In settlements where the Hungarian population - or the population of another national or ethnic minority - is in numerical minority, the mother tongue or bilingual education of children whose mother tongue is Hungarian or the other language will be guaranteed by the municipal government - in accordance with the provisions of the law.
(...)

Article 50
(1) The state guarantees the compilation of textbooks and the provision of equipment necessary for minority education.

(2) The state supports

a) the collection of material monuments of minority cultures, the establishment and enrichment of public collections;

b) the publication of books by minorities and the publication of their periodicals;

c) information on acts and announcements of public interest in the mother tongues of the minorities;

d) the performance of ceremonies related to the family rites of minorities in their mother tongue, and the religious activities of churches in the mother tongue of minorities.

Language Use

Article 51
(1) In the Republic of Hungary everybody may freely use his/her mother tongue wherever and whenever s/he wishes to do so. The conditions of the language use of minorities - in cases provided for by a separate law - must be guaranteed by the state.

(2) In the course of civil or criminal proceedings, or in administrative procedures the use of the mother tongue is ensured by the applicable procedural acts.

Article 52
(1) In the National Assembly, MPs belonging to minorities may also use their mother tongue.

(2) On the board of representatives of the municipal government, a minority representative may also use his/her mother tongue. If the contribution is made in the language of a minority, the Hungarian translation of the contribution or a summary of its contents will be enclosed to the minutes of the meeting.

(3) If, from among the population of a settlement, there are people who belong to a minority, the minutes and resolutions of the board of representatives may also be recorded or worded in the mother tongue of the given minority - as well as appearing in Hungarian. In the event of disputes over the interpretation, the Hungarian version is deemed to be authentic.

Article 53
At the request of the minority self-government operating on the territory under its authority, the municipal government must ensure that

a) the announcement of its regulations and the publication of its announcements are made in the language of the minority - in addition to the Hungarian language;

b) the forms used in the course of administrative procedures are also available in the language of the minority;

c) signs bearing the names of settlements and streets, public offices, and companies undertaking public services, or announcements relating to their operations - in addition to the Hungarian wording and lettering, with the same content and form - may also be read in the mother tongue of the minority.

Article 54
In settlements where there are people who belong to minorities, the local authorities will ensure that in the course of filling vacancies in local public services, candidates with a knowledge of the mother tongue of the given minority will be employed, provided that these people meet the general professional requirements.