The article discusses the implementation of the global concepts of smart city or smart municipality at the local level, focusing on the importance of mayor as a leader and his competencies in this context. The status of elected representatives of self-government in the branch of labour law is legislatively only marginally regulated, with insufficient terminological and functional interconnection between special legislation and labour law. The aim of the authors is to point out the relationship between the current legislation on prelegal relations between the mayor and his leadership duties and powers and to identify barriers in the implementation of the concept of smart cities in the Slovak Republic. The objective of the scientific study is determined based directly on current needs and emerging practical issues. Understanding and applying these correctly has a fundamental impact on the possibilities of rules in local government. Methodologically, our research relies on the basic methods of scientific abstraction in the context of the analysis of de lege lata legislation with a thorough application of the methods of legal logic. The authors draw attention to the partial questions of the labour status and educational census of the Mayor of the Municipality in the context of smart city concept and propose solutions.

Tax sovereignty is now an expression of the phenomenon of state power. In general, there is a widespread but also accepted view that a citizen is dependent on the state and the state is dependent on tax resources. The social status of a citizen in the state is of great importance; it affects the development of personality and, last but not least, reflects the degree of democracy acquired in a particular state. Various tax law measures for the benefit of the citizen are important for the identification of social behavior and are an attempt to improve certain ways of life. The aim and ambition of this article is to emphasize the tools of social policy (e.g., minimum wage, subsistence minimum, social right to work) that are related to the social function of taxing income. In this context, the authors deal with a social function of tax collection and imposing of taxes, justice in taxation, and point out social aspects of the system of taxes in the Slovak Republic. In this article, the authors present the attitudes of both critics and proponents. It also deals with tax justice, which is often a category subjective to the evaluator. The benchmarking attribute of tax collection should be that citizens will have the certainty of social justice in the state and will therefore pay attention to the minimum wage and subsistence minimum as an integral part of tax policy under the legal conditions of the Slovak Republic. All tax legislation, especially tax reform, is perceived with a certain sensitivity regarding tax subjects.

In the environment of the member states of the Council of Europe, in the last two decades, increased attention has also been paid to the debate on the possibility and appropriateness of implementing cooperative and consensual elements in the decision-making processes conducted by administrative authorities and administrative courts. Based on the analysis of relevant soft law documents and a study published for the CEPEJ in 2022, the authors of the paper summarise the findings concerning the use of mediation or other ADR tools in selected Council of Europe member states, applying their findings to the examination of the possibilities provided by the Slovak legal system for the use of mediation in administrative matters.

The main role of public administration is to administrate public affairs. All of the functions in this field are realised by employees carrying out the dependent work. Public administration, as an employer, has to fulfil the demand of stability and attractiveness of public sector employment. For the purposes of the study our attention focuses on a large group of public employees, namely teachers in public universities in Slovakia. Legislative regulation of the employment of university teachers is alarming. The paper analyses Slovak legislation of time-terminated employment contracts with university teachers and its unlimited repetition. The authors, supported by settled case law of the Court of Justice of the EU, assess the legislation in substance and critically, but also point to its potential impact on the private life, social security and health of these employees, i.e. psychological aspects. Descriptive analysis aimed at assessing quantitative changes in individual groups of university teachers according to the highest level of qualification was used to express trends in the development of quantitative indicators characterizing selected aspects of employment of university teachers (assistant, assistant professor, associate professor, professor). Legislation on the employment of university teachers under the conditions of the Slovak Republic raises considerations of unequal treatment of two categories of university teachers (associate professors and professors) when compared to the category of assistants and assistant professors. For this reason, an analysis of the age structure of university teachers according to the highest qualifications was carried out. The analyses were carried out using data from the Center of Scientific and Technical Information of the Slovak Republic (CVTI SR) and the Register of University Employees maintained by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic. The study was conducted for the reference term of 2011–2019. Through our analysis, we have identified a downward trend in the number of university teachers qualified as assistant professors in the 40–49 age category, and this change does not reflect the increase in the number of associate professors in the same age category. The group of university teachers in this age category then becomes vulnerable/disadvantaged in the labor market, which has serious social consequences for the employees themselves and provides a picture of the university environment in terms of legislation.

Digitalization as a global phenomenon is fundamentally changing society in various areas, including the labour market. Digital technologies and the associated modernization are influencing the way work is organized and performed, posing a challenge for the European Union as an actor providing labour law protection to workers across member states. In this article, the authors address the issue of the legislative response of European Union bodies to current challenges in the transformation of labour relations in the digital age, while also paying attention to the necessary processes of transforming the legislative framework in the Slovak Republic. The issue has a significant ontological and philosophical dimension, as it touches on the very essence of human beings as subjects performing dependent work in the digital age. It is an open scientific problem that is not archival in nature but is developing dynamically alongside technological and social progress.

This study analyses the legal status and control function of the chief municipal controller in the Slovak Republic as a unique element of internal control in local government, which does not occur in other EU Member States. Its specificity is the existence of the function of the chief municipal controller as an independent individual control body of the municipality ensuring objectivity in examining the legality of the municipality's actions, as well as the efficiency of the municipality's financial management. Despite the independent nature of the function, the chief controller has the status of an employee in relation to the municipality. The main objective is to determine whether the Slovak model represents a functional and transferable best practice, despite its legal and systemic shortcomings. The secondary objective is to compare it with internal control systems in selected EU countries due to its differences from the models introduced in other EU Member States. The study applies doctrinal and comparative legal methods with a focus on the interpretation of national legislation and EU standards. Classical methods such as analysis, synthesis, abstraction, deduction, historical interpretation were also used. The hypothesis tested is: “Despite legislative ambiguities, the Slovak model of the Chief Municipal Controller – if legally clarified and strengthened – has the potential to serve as an example of effective internal control at the local level.” The findings confirm that while the model offers structural advantages – such as proximity to local government and built-in independence – its effectiveness is weakened by unclear legal status, insufficient qualification criteria and inconsistent application in practice. The study recommends targeted legislative reforms to increase clarity, competence and credibility. Based on the proposed changes, the Slovak model could inspire reforms in other countries with overly centralised or fragmented municipal internal control systems.