Language Rights of European Minorities in the Administration of Justice, Public Administration and Public Services

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-140
Author(s):  
Noémi Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages

This article provides an overview of European minorities’ language rights in the administration of justice, public administration, and public services in 2019. Relevant legal developments are presented in the activities of the major international organizations, i.e. the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, and the Council of Europe. Since the most relevant treaties on the language rights of minorities in Europe are the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, special attention is paid to the implementation thereof. Whereas international monitoring mechanisms devoted to the effective protection of minorities are abundant, language rights of national minorities receive less attention, especially in the fields of official language use, that is, in public administration and justice. The regulation of these areas has been traditionally considered as almost exclusively belonging to the states’ competence, and international organizations are consequently reluctant to interfere. As a result, the official use of minority languages differs in the various countries of Europe, with both good practices (e.g. the Netherlands, Spain, Finland) and unbalanced situations (e.g. Estonia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan).

Language Rights of Minorities in the Areas of Education, the Administration of Justice and Public Administration: European Developments in 2017

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-97
Author(s):  
Noémi Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
European Court ◽  
Administration Of Justice

This section overviews the 2017 situation of the language rights of European minorities in the fields of education, the administration of justice and public administration. The author presents the relevant legal developments in the activities of the major international organizations, i.e. the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, and the Council of Europe including the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and the implementation of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages as well as the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. In the concluding remarks, tendencies and common patterns are emphasized.

scholarly journals The Council of Europe and the European Union frameworks in the legal protection of minority languages: unity or diversity?

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-366
Author(s):  
Alessia Vacca
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Treaty Of Lisbon ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages

This article focuses on the comparison between European Union Law and Council of Europe Law in the field of the protection of minority languages and looks at the relationships between the two systems. The Council of Europe has been very important in the protection of minority languages, having created two treaties of particular relevance: the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1992 and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 1995; both treaties contain many detailed provisions relating to minority languages. Not all countries, even of the European Union, have ratified these treaties. 12 out of 27 EU countries did not ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The European Union supports multilingualism because it wants to achieve unity while maintaining diversity. Important steps, with respect to minority languages, were taken in the European Community, notably in the form of European Parliament Resolutions. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, approved in Nice the 7th December 2000, contains art. 21 and art. 22 related to this topic. The Treaty of Lisbon makes a cross reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which is, consequently, legally binding under the Treaty of Lisbon since December 2009. The Charter could give ground for appeal to the European Court of Justice in cases of discrimination on the grounds of language

Observing Minority Rights in the Administration of Justice and Public Administration: European Developments in 2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (01) ◽  
pp. 113-147
Author(s):  
Noemi Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
European Court ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
The Status ◽  
Judicial Proceedings

This article overviews the 2016 developments concerning the status and rights of European minorities with respect to administrative and judicial proceedings, with special focus on language rights. The longest section of the article is devoted to the activities of the Council of Europe, including the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the implementation of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, as well as the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Furthermore, the relevant legal developments in the activities of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union are presented.

Linguistic Minority Rights in the Danish-German Border Region: Reciprocity and Public Administration Policies

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tove H. Malloy ◽  
Sonja Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Border Region ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Linguistic Minority ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
The Government ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages

Language equality is not public policy in Denmark or Germany, and neither country has adopted an official state language constitutionally. Both countries protect minority languages through regional and local statutes on culture and education and have signed relevant international standards on linguistic rights for minorities and protection of regional or minority languages. Neither system is very transparent, nor comprehensive. This has created consternation and dissatisfaction among the national minorities residing in the Danish-German border region resulting in recent tensions in the municipalities in Southern Denmark, whereas the government of Schleswig-Holstein decided in 2015 to address the issue with policy reforms for public administration. This article focuses on linguistic minority rights in the Danish-German border region with specific attention to minority languages in public administration and specifically to the on-going reforms in Schleswig-Holstein.

Territoriality and Minority Language Rights

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balázs Vizi
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Technical Approach ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Minority Language Rights

Territorial principle emerges not only in domestic legislations on language rights, but also in international documents. The article aims at offering an overview of the interpretations of territoriality in international documents relevant for minority language rights, with a special focus on the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. While states often use territorial requirements as a tool of political control over minority language use, the interpretation of their obligations under the two Council of Europe treaties would require a more practical and technical approach to territorial limitations.

scholarly journals Language rights and the Council of Europe: A failed response to a multilingual continent?

Ethnicities ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 603-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip McDermott
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
Language Recognition ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Mass Migration

Debates on language rights as integral elements of human rights have gathered momentum since the early 1990s. International organisations such as the Council of Europe (CoE) and the United Nations (UN) have advocated linguistic rights through various charters and conventions, albeit with wavering levels of success. This article focuses specifically on the European context and the manner in which the CoE has dealt with language rights in the continent. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the European Charter for Regional and Minority languages (ECRML) and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCPNM) are discussed in light of the region’s contemporary linguistic makeup. Current inequalities in the application of language recognition provide an area of special concern. For example, while speakers of ‘indigenous’ (or autochthonous) minority languages have apparently enjoyed an improving status in recent decades, the position of immigrant (or allochthonous) languages is less clear and current approaches largely ignore linguistic diversity which has been brought by recent mass migration patterns, leading to a somewhat exclusionary system. Through the discussion possible pathways for better inclusion of immigrant languages within current international frameworks, especially those of the CoE, are explored.

Techniques for Protecting Minority Languages under Belgian Federalism

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-236
Author(s):  
Ludo Veny ◽  
Brecht Warnez
Keyword(s):  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Group ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Major Language ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages ◽  
Federal Structure

As one of the few countries in the Council of Europe, Belgium has, to date, not ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities as well as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Nevertheless, minorities are protected in Belgium due to its specific federal structure. Several instruments provide a balance between the two major language groups in the country: the Flemish and the French-speaking language group. This article focuses on these special techniques and situates them in the historical and specific judicial background of Belgium.

scholarly journals Are traditional minority languages a bench marking for the rights of migrant languages in the European Union?

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-60
Author(s):  
Christopher Houtkamp ◽  
László Marácz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One

In this paper a normative position will be defended. We will argue that minimal territorial minority language rights formulated in terms of the personality principle referring to traditional minority languages granted in the framework of the European Union (EU) are a benchmark for non-territorial linguistic rights. Although territorial minority languages should be granted collective rights this is in large parts of Europe not the case. Especially in the Central and Eastern European Member States language rights granted to territorial languages are assigned on the basis of personal language rights. Our argumentation will be elaborated on the basis of a comparative approach discussing the status of a traditional territorial language in Romania, more in particular Hungarian spoken in the Szeklerland area with the one of migrant languages in the Netherlands, more in particular Turkish. In accordance with the language hierarchy implying that territorial languages have a higher status than non-territorial languages both in the EUs and Member States’ language regimes nonterritorial linguistic rights will be realized as personal rights in the first place. Hence, the use of non-territorial minority languages is conditioned much as the use of territorial minority languages in the national Member States. So, the best possible scenario for mobile minority languages is to be recognized as a personal right and receive full support from the states where they are spoken. It is true that learning the host language would make inclusion of migrant language speakers into the host society smoother and securing a better position on the labour market. This should however be done without striving for full assimilation of the speakers of migrant languages for this would violate the linguistic rights of migrants to speak and cultivate one’s own heritage language, violate the EUs linguistic diversity policy, and is against the advantages provided by linguistic capital in the sense of BOURDIEU (1991).

scholarly journals The problem of developing multilingualism skills in the European educational context

2020 ◽  
pp. 109-117
Author(s):  
Mariya Vynarchyk
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Scientific Article ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Educational Context ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Scientific Cooperation ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages

The scientific article explores the problem of developing multilingualism skills in the European educational context. For this purpose, the task was to analyze the conditions and ways of realizing the problem of multilingualism in the modern educational field and to study the features of European multilingualism in the context of cultural diversity. The methodology of the study is based on the coverage and analysis of cognitive and practical multilingualism skills. European education policy is analyzed. Addressing the issue of multilingualism is one of the most important activities of the Council of Europe, the European Commission and is covered by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and in numerous resolutions of international conferences and symposia. It is established that one of the main goals of education in a democratic society is not only respect for human rights, but also the development of knowledge, skills and abilities of students, their preparation for life in civil society. Research has shown that multilingual people in Europe have advantages over monolinguals. More than half of all Europeans say they speak at least one language other than their mother tongue. The study showed that multilingualism is beneficial for people who are supporters of intercultural and linguistic interaction based on tolerance and humanism. Modern European educational policy is aimed at developing multilingual skills. This demonstrates the importance and timeliness of solving the problem in the educational environment with the active support of students and teachers, the financial capacity of European educational programs and projects of governments of leading European countries. As part of this task, it is important to actively support the mobility of students and teachers, to develop scientific cooperation, cultural interaction. Thanks to the intensive development of multilingual skills, it is possible to achieve the required level of language competence of students as a basis for their further learning and self-improvement. Since the modern educational community is focused on the highest human values, the personal development of schoolchildren and students is considered a priority for the functioning of European educational institutions.

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