anybody. The Constitutional Court found in that respect that the applicants
had provided no evidence of the violation of their rights and freedoms. (3)
7.3 The State party further submits that no direct violation of the right to
freedom of movement and choice of residence, as guaranteed by article 5 (d)
(i) of the Convention, took place in the present case. The legal order of the
Slovak Republic guarantees the equality of citizens before the
law. (4) Freedom of movement and residence is also guaranteed to all
persons staying in the territory of the State party regardless of their
citizenship. (5) The freedom of residence is understood as the right of
citizens to choose without any restrictions their place of residence. This right
may only be limited as a result of a penal sanction. A ban on residence can be
imposed as a sanction only for intentional crimes, can never be imposed on
juveniles and cannot apply to the place where the offender has permanent
residence. Restrictions to the freedom of movement and residence can only
be based on a parliamentary act and never on decisions of the Government or
other bodies of State administration.
Counsel's comments
8.1 Counsel notes the State party's acknowledgement that the resolutions in
question were unlawful. As a result, the only relevant issues left for the
Committee to decide are, firstly, whether the applicant is a victim for the
purposes of a complaint under the Convention and, secondly, whether the
subsequent abolition of the resolutions affects the validity of the complaint to
the Committee.
8.2 In its admissibility decision the Committee already addressed the first
issue when it stated that the author could be considered a "victim" within the
meaning of article 14, paragraph 1, of the Convention, since she belonged to a
group of the population directly targeted by the resolutions in
question. (6) The Committee also addressed the second issue when it noted
that, notwithstanding their abrogation, the resolutions had remained in force
from July 1997 to April 1999 and that it had to examine whether during that
time violations of the Convention had taken place as a result of their
enactment. (7)
8.3 Finally, counsel states that the points raised by the State party in its
observations on the merits have already been addressed in his submission of
2 August 1999.
Additional information submitted by the State party
9.1 Upon the Committee's request the State party provided copy of records of
the municipal councils of Rokytovce and Nagov containing the texts of
resolutions Nos. 21 and 22 respectively.