Report on the Linguistic Rights of Persons Belonging to National Minorities in the OSCE Area

Overview of international standards regarding linguistic rights of minorities, and summary analysis of a survey of State practice according to government replies to a questionnaire.

The Report on the Linguistic Rights of Persons Belonging to National Minorities in the OSCE Area provides an overview of international standards regarding the linguistic rights of minorities and analyses government replies to a survey of State practices. The analysis of government responses to the survey covers the presence of State and official languages and languages with special status, use of minority languages in official communications, teaching of and in minority languages, inclusion of national minority perspectives in the general school curriculum, implementation of the right to establish private schools, access to public media and other protections for minorities. This analysis and comparison of the laws and policies in OSCE participating States, along with consideration of the applicable legal standards, is intended to provide governments with insight into the numerous options for fulfilling their commitments in this area and an understanding of those policies that fall short of those standards.

This report is available in English, Russian and Georgian, and can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking the relevant link below.