Act LXXVII of 1993
on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities

(abstract issue)

1. § (1) The scope of this Act shall cover all the Hungarian citizens domiciled on the territory of the Republic of Hungary who consider themselves persons who belong to some national or ethnic minority, and the communities of these persons.
(2) Pursuant to this Act, national or ethnic minorities (hereinafter referred to as minority) shall be all the ethnic groups native to the territory of the Republic of Hungary for at least on hundred years that numerically constitute a minority among the population of the state; whose members are Hungarian citizens, and are distinguished from the rest of the Hungarian citizens and the population by their own language, culture and traditions; also they manifest a consciousness of belonging together that is aimed at preserving all these, at expressing and protecting the interests of their historically evolved communities.
2. §

3. § (1) The minorities living in the Republic of Hungary share the power of the people: they are constituents of the state [Article 68 (1) of the Constitution]. Their culture is a part of the culture of Hungary.
(2) The right to national and ethnic identity is a fundamental human right that both individuals and communities are entitled to.
(3) Each minority shall have the right to exist and survive as a national or ethnic minority.
(4) Each community of a minority and each person that belongs to a minority shall have the right to undisturbed life on the homeland and undisturbed maintenance of relations with the mother country. The right to the homeland shall mean the freedom and shelter of attachment not only to the place of one’s own birth but to the place of birth or residence of parents, educators, ancestors, to the old country and its culture, traditions.
(5) With respect to minorities it is forbidden to violate the requirements of non-discrimination in any form whatsoever.

4. §
(3) When drawing the borders of administrative units and constituencies, when working out settlement and economy development, and environmental plans, the Republic of Hungary takes the settlement conditions, connections, economic interests and the evolved traditions of national and ethnic minorities into account.
5. § (1) In the Republic of Hungary minorities shall have the right to establish settlement, regional and national minority municipalities (hereinafter referred to as minority municipality).
(2) The establishment of minority municipalities may be initiated and minority municipalities may be elected by voters who are included in the register of minority voters (hereinafter referred to as the register of minority voters). A voter may be included only in one register of minority voters. The detailed rules of the register of minority voters are set forth in a separate act.
(3) The representation of a minority may be undertaken by a candidate who is included in the register of minority voters. The right of representation may be exercised concerning only one minority.

Chapter II

Individual minority rights

9. § A person that belongs to a minority shall have the right to political and cultural equality of chances, and the State is obliged to further this right by taking effective measures.

10. § The participation of individuals that belong to minorities in public life shall not be restricted. To express, protect their interests, they may establish associations, political parties, other social organisations pursuant to constitutional regulation.

Chapter III

Collective rights of minorities

20. § (1) Minorities are entitled to parliamentary representation, in the form determined under a separate act.

Chapter IV

Minority municipalities; establishing minority municipalities

21. § (1) Each minority may pursuant to the provisions set forth in a special Act establish:
a) settlement minority municipalities in communities, towns and the districts of the Capital, and regional minority municipalities in counties and the capital city, and,
b) a national minority municipality.
(2) The process of electing citizens who belong to minorities representatives of settlement or regional minority municipalities, or representatives of the national minority municipality is governed by a special Act.

22. § Minority municipalities may be established by voters through direct election pursuant to the provisions set forth in the special Act.

23. § (1) The number of the representatives of the body of settlement minority municipalities shall be 5 persons.
(2) The number of the representatives of the body of county, metropolitan minority municipalities shall be 9 persons.
(3) The same minority at one settlement may establish only one settlement minority municipality.
(4) The same minority in the county or the capital city may establish only one regional minority municipality.
(5) The same minority may establish only one national minority municipality. Several minorities may establish a common, associated national minority municipality. The number of the members of the national minority municipality shall be pursuant to the special Act 15-53 persons.

The termination of minority municipalities

24. § (1) A minority municipality shall terminate, simultaneously with the termination of the mandate of the body of representatives, when no new body of representatives is elected after the termination of the mandate of the body of representatives.
(2) If a minority municipality terminates, the election of minority municipality representatives may be held only in the next general local municipality election.

The rights and obligations of minority municipalities

24/B. § (1) The rights of minority municipalities shall be the legal due of the community of voters that belong to the minority, who may exercise their such rights in the form determined by law through their elected representatives.

Chapter XII

Closing provisions

61. § (1) Pursuant to this Act, Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Gypsy, Polish, Romanian, Russ, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian and Ukrainian minorities are considered ethnic groups native in Hungary.
(2) If in addition to those listed in paragraph (1) further minorities intend to give evidence of complying with the conditions set forth in this Act, minimum 1000 voters who declare themselves to belong to this minority shall submit signature collecting sheets pursuant to the provisions of popular initiatives on this subject matter to the chairman of the National Election Committee. In the procedure the provisions of the act on national referendums and popular initiatives shall be applied, stipulating that in its action the National Election Committee is obliged to request the president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to formulate his/her position whether the relevant legal conditions hold.
(3)-(4)