The Legal Concept of a Dysfunctional Municipality in Slovakia: Solution or Postponement of a Systemic Problem?

This paper examines whether the affiliation of a dysfunctional municipality with a neighboring municipality under Section 2aa of Slovakia’s Act No. 369/1990 Coll. offers an effective and constitutionally defensible response to the prolonged absence of elected municipal bodies. It distinguishes statutory dysfunctionality from other forms of institutional weakness and evaluates the mechanism against criteria of legal operability, procedural predictability, democratic legitimacy, proportionality and financial sustainability. A legal–dogmatic analysis is combined with a documentary case study of Ondavka, where municipal bodies were restored in October 2020 before affiliation was completed. The case documents the limits of implementation but does not establish that the threat of affiliation caused electoral mobilization. The article argues that Section 2aa closes a narrow legal gap without resolving wider problems of administrative fragmentation. It recommends binding procedural deadlines, meaningful consultation, a prior assessment of inherited liabilities, predictable financial support and a carefully delimited temporary alternative to dissolution.