Ministries and other government authorities may issue generally binding legal regulations pursuant to and within the limits of the law, provided that they are authorised to do so by law.
The following ministries operate in the Slovak Republic, each headed by a member of the Government:
The Ministry is managed by the Minister, who is responsible for its activities.
In the Minister's absence, the State Secretary acts on the Minister's behalf within the scope of the Minister's rights and obligations. The Minister may also authorise the State Secretary to act on the Minister's behalf within the scope of the Minister's rights and obligations in other cases. When acting on behalf of the Minister at a Government meeting, the State Secretary has an advisory vote. The State Secretary is appointed and dismissed by the Government on the proposal of the relevant Minister.
In justified cases, particularly in the case of ministries covering several sectors, the Government may decide that two State Secretaries shall serve at the Ministry. The Minister determines the matters in which, and the order in which, the State Secretaries act on the Minister's behalf.
The Government may decide that three State Secretaries shall temporarily serve at the Ministry, provided that one of them is appointed solely to perform tasks related to the Presidency of the Slovak Republic of the Council of the European Union.
The organisational structure of the Ministry is determined by its organisational rules, which are issued by the Minister.
The Ministry is divided into sections and departments, or other organisational units, as appropriate. Sections are established primarily for individual areas of the Ministry's activities. Each section is headed by a Director General. Sections may be further divided into offices, departments or other organisational units of equivalent standing.
An office, department or other organisational unit is headed by a Director.
The Government Office of the Slovak Republic is headed by a Head, who is accountable to the Prime Minister for the performance of his or her duties. The Head of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic is appointed and dismissed by the Government.
The Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic and the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic are headed by a Chairperson, who is appointed and dismissed by the President of the Slovak Republic on the proposal of the Government. The term of office of the Chairperson of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic is five years.
The National Security Authority is headed by a Director, who is elected and dismissed by the National Council of the Slovak Republic.
The other central government authorities are headed by a Chairperson, who is appointed and dismissed by the Government. The Chairperson is accountable to the Government for the performance of his or her duties. In the Chairperson's absence, the Deputy Chairperson acts on the Chairperson's behalf within the scope of the Chairperson's rights and obligations.
Ministries and other central government authorities are legal entities.
The Government directs, coordinates and supervises the activities of ministries through the respective Ministers and the activities of other central government authorities through their statutory bodies.
The ministries and other central government authorities are seated in Bratislava, with the exception of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic, which is seated in Banská Bystrica.
