On October 17, 1958, the National Assembly of the Czechoslovak Republic, in which the communists played a decisive role, adopted the law on the permanent settlement of nomadic persons. The law introduced criminal sanctions for those who continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle, mainly affecting the nomadic Roma.
The End of Traditional Romani Life
The regime of the so-called People’s Democracy in Czechoslovakia, under the effective control of the Communist Party, sought to suppress the freedom of Roma nomadic communities and simultaneously secure additional labor for the national economy. To this end, Act No. 74/1958 Coll. was adopted, coming into force on March 1, 1959, and effectively criminalizing the nomadic way of life. In practice, officials confiscated wagon wheels, seized or killed horses, and dismantled the material basis of Roma mobility. Although the law did not explicitly name the Roma, its enforcement overwhelmingly targeted them. In 1990, the criminal provisions were abolished. Yet, the remainder of the act continued to apply until its full repeal in 1998, when the explanatory report acknowledged that its very existence represented a disgrace to the Czech legal order.
“The administrative measures undertaken to date to re-educate nomadic and semi-nomadic people have not produced a decisive change. It is therefore necessary to establish a direct ban on the nomadic way of life by law. This will create the conditions required for the integration of nomadic and semi-nomadic people into the work process and for the application of the necessary educational and coercive influence, especially on the part of national committees.“
Explanatory report to Act No. 74/1958
Further Reading / Source
Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (in Czech)