Deaccessioning in Slovakia
Slovakian legislation on cultural heritage, including deaccessioning and disposal is extensive.
No guidelines on the subject have been developed.

Country details for Slovakia
Official name: | Slovak Republic |
Number of residents: | 5,429 million |
Number of museums: | 85 |
Parameters: | Legislation, National register of objects, and Accreditation scheme |
Deaccessioning possibilities in Slovakia:
LEGISLATION
Slovakia has specific legislation on deaccessioning and disposal, found in the
§4 Rights and obligations of the owner of a museum or gallery (1) The owner of the museum or gallery shall have the following rights: g) to offer a collection item deaccessioned in accordance with section 10(8)(e) to another museum or gallery established in accordance with section 3(1), § 10 Professional recording of information on collection items and the deaccessioning of collection items (1) A museum or gallery must record information on newly acquired collection objects in the specialised records of the museum collection or gallery collection. (2) The purpose of the specialised records is to provide a unique identity for each collection item and to determine its scholarly, historical, cultural and aesthetic value. A catalogue based on the professional assessment and scholarly study of collection items shall be an integral part of the knowledge system of the museum or gallery. (3) Professional recording of collection items shall be carried out in two stages: a) stage I is the logging of collection items; collection items shall be logged in the accessions register. b) stage II is the formal cataloguing of collection items. (4) The formal cataloguing of a collection item shall take place no later than one year from its acquisition. The museum shall perform formal cataloguing in the form of a catalogue entry containing a formal, technical description of the collection item allowing it to be uniquely identified. A gallery shall carry out cataloguing on a documentation card. (5) Every museum must submit information on its catalogue to the Slovak National Museum in electronic format annually for inclusion in the central catalogue of museum collection items and cooperate in the digitisation of collection items. (6) Every gallery must submit information on its catalogue to the Slovak National Gallery in electronic format annually for inclusion in the central catalogue of visual art collection items and cooperate in the digitisation of collection items. (7) A security interest may not be established in a collection item13) and nor may it be burdened in any other way. Collection items shall not be subject to execution proceedings under applicable regulations14) or bankruptcy proceedings under applicable regulations15) (8) A collection item may be deaccessioned in the event of a) destruction, b) theft, c) permanent export, d) exchange, e) if the collection item is incompatible with the profile and specialisation of the museum or gallery and reduces the value of the museum collection, and the conditions set out in subsections (9) and (10) have been satisfied, f) release to an eligible person under applicable regulations.16) (9) In the case of a collection item belonging to a museum or gallery owned by a central state administration body, deaccessioning under subsection (8)(e) is permissible only if the item is transferred to the custody of another museum or gallery owned by a central state administration body under an agreement made in accordance with the relevant regulations7) or transferred to the ownership of a municipality or higher-tier territorial unit and the custody of a museum or gallery owned by the municipality or higher-tier territorial unit under an agreement made in accordance with the relevant regulations7). (10) In the case of a collection belonging to a museum or gallery established under section 3 (1)(b) or (c), deaccessioning under subsection (8)(e) is permissible only if the item is transferred to the custody of another museum or gallery belonging to the same owner under an agreement made in accordance with the relevant regulations17) or if it is transferred to the ownership of a municipality or higher-tier territorial unit and the custody of a museum or gallery owned by the municipality or higher-tier territorial unit in accordance with section 3 (1)(b) or (c) or to another museum or gallery established under section 3(1)(a). (11) A proposal for the deaccessioning of a collection item from the museum or gallery shall be assessed by the Commission on the initiative of the Statutory Body. The opinion of the Commission shall be binding for the Statutory Body. (12) The Statutory Body shall submit the proposal for the deaccessioning of the collection item and the positive opinion of the Commission to the owner, who shall decide whether to consent to the deaccessioning of the collection item. Without such consent, deaccessioning of the collection item shall not be permissible. (13) Records of acquisitions, cataloguing and deaccessioning shall be kept indefinitely. External link Slovakian legislationAct of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No. 206/2009 of 28 April 2009 on museums and galleries and the protection of objects of cultural significance and the amendment of Act of the Slovak National Council No. 372/1990 Zb. on misdemeanours, as amended. Deaccessioning § 4 & §10
External link Slovakian legislation
GUIDELINES
Slovakia has no guidelines on deaccessioning and disposal.
OTHER TOOLS
Slovakia has no other tools on deaccessioning and disposal.
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS
Slovakia has no national classification system for museum objects.
NATIONAL REGISTER OBJECTS
Slovakia has a national register of museum objects, administered by the Slovakian National Museum.
ACCREDITATION SCHEME
Slovakia has an official museum Accreditation scheme, called the Register.
Act on museums and galleries §5 The RegisterAct on museums and galleries §5 The Register
§5
The Register
(1) The Ministry shall register a museum or gallery in the Register based on an application submitted by the owner (the Applicant for Registration). The Applicant for Registration shall submit the application in the form set out in Annex 1. The application for registration shall include the foundation charter or statutes of the museum or gallery.
(2) The Ministry shall register the Applicant for Registration within 90 days of receiving the application for registration or within 30 days of correction of defects identified as result of the procedure set out in subsection 4 provided that the museum or gallery satisfies the following conditions:
a) it must keep a catalogue of collection items in accordance with section 10(3)(a),
b) it must provide adequate security for collection items in accordance with section 12 and professional
protection of collection items in accordance with section 13,
c) it must ensure access to collection items in accordance with section 15,
d) it must have adequate staff to carry out the basic professional activities with an appropriate level of
competence.
(3) Before entering a museum in the Register, the Ministry shall request the opinion of the Slovak
National Museum or, in the case of a gallery, the Slovak National Gallery, as to whether the museum or gallery satisfies the set conditions for the performance of basic professional activities. If the Ministry finds, after taking into consideration the opinion of the Slovak National Museum or the Slovak National Gallery, that the museum or gallery satisfies the conditions set out in subsection (2), the Ministry shall enter the museum or gallery in the Register.
(4) If the Ministry finds, after taking into consideration the opinion of the Slovak National Museum or Slovak National Gallery, that the museum or gallery does not satisfy the conditions set out in subsection (2), it shall instruct the Applicant for Registration to correct the identified deficiencies within 90 days of delivery of the instruction, to which shall be attached the opinion of the Slovak National Museum or Slovak National Gallery. If the Ministry finds, after taking into consideration a new opinion, that the identified deficiencies were not corrected despite the call, the Ministry shall reject the application for registration and shall notify the Applicant for Registration of this in writing.
(5) The Applicant for Registration may reapply only after satisfying the obligations set out in subsection (2).
(6) In the event of the merging of museums or galleries belonging to a single Applicant for Registration, the Applicant for Registration of the museum or gallery established in this way shall notify the Ministry of this fact. They shall also apply for registration of the museum or gallery established in this way. The Applicant for Registration shall ask that the merged museums or galleries be removed from the Register within 30 days of the merger of the museums or galleries.
(7) If ownership of the museum is transferred by agreement, the new owner of the museum or gallery shall apply for a change in the data in the register within 30 days of the date of the transfer of ownership by agreement.
(8) If a museum or gallery does not perform the duties set out in sections 8 to 15 for a period of at least 12 months, the Ministry may remove the museum or gallery s entry from the register on its own initiative. It shall notify the owner to this effect no later than 60 days before the removal of the entry. The owner may reapply for registration no earlier than 180 days after the date of removal of the entry.
(9) After the closure of a museum or gallery, the Ministry shall remove it from the Register no later than 30 days after the delivery of the application under section 4(2)(h).
(10) A museum or gallery removed from the Register may be registered under section 7(5)(j) as a facility for the display of museum exhibitions.
(11) Actions relating to the Register under this section shall not be subject to the general regulation on administrative proceedings.
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