Constitutional Protection Of State Symbols In Europe

Constitutional Protection Of State Symbols In Europe Presented by: Prof. Dr. Zoltán Date: 5 January 2023 Research design - The research focuses on the legal protection and normative regulation of symbols of comprehensive communities, which are of paramount importance to society and which permeate (most of) a given society. - The framework of social coexistence is the state; the ideological basis of the state and the ultimate source of its identity, as well as its main basis of legitimacy, is the nation; the constitutive elements of the state (and directly of society) are also those traditional communities (religious communities, nationalities, other identity-based 'constituent parts of the State') whose identity and autonomy are traditionally a value to be protected. Introductory remarks - Topicality in the 21st century - Methodological choices - The necessary delimitation of the research topic Methods applied - Legal historical aspects - Comparative legal analysis of national regulations - Constraints of examination Tasks/duties of the group (members) - Analyzing own countries' regulation - The constitutional, criminal and civil law levels of regulation were examined separately - Context of the regulation(s) of the Central European states: • European characteristics of constitutional regulation concerning state symbols • Criminal law protection across Europe Conceptual basics - Concept of symbol - Functions of signs: signaling and/or representation - Representative symbols are more than mere signals - Symbols (in this sense) have a moral substrate - Research topic: state and national symbols - Concept of state (concept of sovereignty) - Two concepts of nation - State or national symbols? • Anthem • Flag • Coat of arms • Other Protection of state symbols in Europe - Level of criminal law - Level of constitutional law - Functions of state symbols: • Distinguishing • Identification Protection Of State Symbols In Europe Scope Of The Research - Starting point: the geographical concept of Europe - Countries with codified constitutions (excluded the UK, because of possible methodological inconsistency) - Additions on cultural grounds - Additions on the political reality - Exclusions - Altogether: 53 countries Protection Of State Symbols In Europe – Findings - These provisions are essential by virtue of their position in the structure of the constitutions - Context of the regulations of state symbols - Classification (with regard to constitutional regulation of flags / anthems / coats of arms): • Those that regulate all three symbols • Those that mention only two of them • Those that stipulate only one of them • Those whose constitutions do not even mention state symbols (any of them) Those That Regulate All Three Symbols (25 Countries) - Ad I/A. • 20 states introduced these 3 symbols (and only these):  Andorra (Art 2), Armenia (Art 21), Azerbaijan (Art 23), Belarus (Art 19), Croatia (Art 11), Georgia (Art 2), Hungary (Art I), Kazakhstan (Art 9), Kyrgyzstan (Art 11), Lithuania (Art 15-16), Moldova (Art 12), Montenegro (Art 4), North Macedonia (Art 5), Russian Federation (Art 70), Serbia (Art 7), Slovenia (Art 6), Tajikistan (Art 3), Turkmenistan (Art 15), Ukraine (Art 20), Uzbekistan (Art 15). • Specialties in:  Azerbaijan and Slovenia (flag)  Hungary (flag)  Serbia and Slovenia (flag)  Ukraine (anthem)  Serbia and Ukraine (coat of arms) - Ad I/B. • 5 states regulated these 3 ones and other additional symbols Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia • State seal: all these five states • National day: Romania • The Czech Republic: the most complex symbol system Those That Regulate Two Of The Three Main Symbols (9 Countries) - Ad II/A.: flag and anthem (5 countries): France, Kosovo, Malta, Portugal, Turkey • Turkey: flag, anthem (only) • Portugal: flag, anthem (only) • France: flag (as national emblem"), anthem + maxim + „principle of the Republic" - • Kosovo: flag, anthem + state seal • Malta: flag, anthem + special emblem Ad II/B.: flag and coat of arms (3 countries): Austria, Estonia, Monaco (coat of arms of the state as a „Princes Standard", i.e. „coat of arms of the House of Grimaldi") - Ad II/C.: coat of arms and anthem (1 state): Poland (+ national colors) Those That Regulate One Of The Three Main Symbols (8 Countries) - Only flag: Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Norway and Spain - Coat of arms: Liechtenstein (+ „national colors") No State Symbols On The Constitutional Level (11 States) - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Denmark - Finland - Greece - Iceland - Luxembourg - The Netherlands - San Marino - Sweden - Switzerland In sum - 42 countries (of 53) have regulations on state symbol(s) on a constitutional level (in 13 countries only mentioned, in 29 countries regulated) - 11 countries have no regulations at all - Special procedural regulations in the constitution about legislative measures on state symbols: 12 countries - The case of Turkey - National colors: 5 constitutions. • - (Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Liechtenstein, Poland) State seal: 7 constitutions. • (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Kosovo, Romania and Slovakia) - Flag of the President of the Republic: the Czech Republic • „National Day”: Romania Excursus: The Criminal Law Regulations Across Europe - The same 53 countries (UK has no criminal code, either). - In 38 countries violation of state (or national) symbols are criminal offence. - 21 countries punish the defamation of other states' symbols. - 11 states protect symbols of international organizations (UN, COE, EU etc.).