Abstract
After liberation Czechoslovakia officially returned to the legal order of the republic that existed before the Munich Agreement, in accordance with the conception of restoration of the legal order. But there were exceptions, with the legal regulation of minority status being among the most significant ones.
In the period from 1920 to 1938, the first Czechoslovak Republic had extensive legal regulation of the status of minorities, mainly concerning the use of languages, and such regulation also existed before the first republic during the monarchy up to 1918. However after 1945, with certain exceptions, the legal regulation of the status of minorities was non-existent and the lack of such regulation continued up to 1960 or more precisely 1968.
Czechoslovakia even tried to get rid of all non-Slavic groups despite the fact that they represented a considerable part of the population. Such major changes depending on political developments are unthinkable in law in general, but the legal regulation of the status of minorities has many specific aspects.
In the Czech lands and similarly in Slovakia up to the separation of Czechoslovakia, it is possible to identify at least seven completely different conceptions of legal regulation, some extensive and detailed, others merely declarations of minority rights, others remaining silent concerning such rights - and there were even conceptions trying to eliminate them. Considering that it usually takes several years before a legal regulation becomes fully operational in practice, it is clear that such major changes in law resulted in great confusion.