Language Research

No article in the Constitution of the Czech Republic applies to the use of an official language in the country. The term "state" or "official" language is not directly defined by any provision of national legislation. The status of the Czech language as the official language is, however, implicit in some legal regulations. Law No. 40/1993, on the Acquisition and Loss of Citizenship of the Czech Republic, stipulates the knowledge of the Czech language as a condition for granting citizenship.

Law No. 335/1991, on Courts and Judges, provides that every person may use his/her mother language before the court. The expenditures connected with the services of an interpreter are covered by the state.

The Penal Code - Law No.141/1961, regulates the right of everyone to use his own language before the bodies involved in criminal proceedings.

Updated (January 2001)

At the beginning of the year 2001 the Czech Republic Parliament has been discussing a draft law on the national minority rights. This debate is only likely to end by April 2002.

The signature of the European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages (November 2000) might also lead the government to examine the adequacy of the current state regulations.

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Updated (May 2001)

On May 24, 2001, the Lower House of the Czech Parliament passed a new Law on Ethnic Minorities. This law allows the use of minority languages in some official documents, as well as in bilingual signposts and street names in those places where minority communities live. German, Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Romany, Slovak and Croatian are spoken in the Czech Republic, though only the first four have a legal status of minority languages.

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Updated (May 2002)

ROMA

Spokespersons for Czech Roma are divided over the Ethnic Minorities Law approved by the Chamber of Deputies on May 23, 2001. The law stipulates that the officially recognized 12 minorities may display bilingual signs in localities where they constitute 10 percent or more of the population, if 40 percent of them demand it. In those localities minorities are granted the right to use their mother tongue in official contacts with state and local administration and the right to be educated in their mother tongue from nursery school level. But Hradec Kralove Romany adviser Marian Erimias said it is more important for Roma to learn Czech in order to integrate in society. Romany historian Bartolomej Daniel welcomed the law, while an expert from the Brno Museum of Romany history said the law "complicates problems because there are many dialects in the Romany language and no language rules."

Source: RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 5, No. 100, Part II, 25 May 2001, http://racoon.riga.lv/minelres/archive//06042001-11:56:20-11592.html

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Updated (June 2002)

The Law on Ethnic and National Minorities, which entered into force on July 1, 2001, offered considerably less protection to minorities than early drafts envisioned. It recognizes twelve minorities, including the Roma minority, and contains a general definition of national and ethnic minorities ("a group of citizens residing on the territory of the current Czech Republic, that differ from other citizens usually by common ethnic origin, language, culture and traditions, creates a substantial minority of the population, and at the same time the members of this group reveal their will to be considered as a national minority in order to retain and develop their own diversity, language and culture and in order to declare interests of the group").

The law also stipulates that officially recognized minorities may display bilingual signs in localities where they constitute 10 percent of the population or more, and if 40 percent demand so. In these localities, minorities are granted the right to use minority languages in official contacts with state and local administration.

The Civil Code of 1993 provides for the right to use minority languages in court and obliges courts to provide appropriate facilities. Similarly, the Criminal Code of 1961 states that everybody is entitled to use his/her "mother tongue" in contact with law enforcement authorities and in court. However, the government notes in respect to the Romany national minority, that an unresolved problem is an entirely insufficient number of Romany interpreters.

Article 25 of the Charter provides for education in minority languages. The 1990 Law on Education gives the school authorities the opportunity (but not obligation) to ensure instructions in languages other than Czech according to the local conditions and requirements.¹ The Minorities Law guarantees the right to be educated in the minority languages from nursery to secondary school level (Article 11). However, in practice only the Czech Poles study in their native language to date.

Use of the Romani languages in schools has increased since 1997 when Romani pedagogical assistants were introduced to primary schools, to facilitate the integration of Roma children to mainstream schooling. As of April 2000, 180 of these assistants were employed in 114 preparatory classes for 1,425 pupils at kindergartens, primary and special schools. They provided tutoring, language assistance and mediation between the school and children's families.

Another effort to introduce Romani history and culture in schools is a distribution of Roma children's magazine, "Kereka" (Circle). The government has also introduced optional Romani history and culture programs.² Two private schools for Roma exist in Ostrava and Kolin³, although opinions on the quality of education in these institutions vary.

Under the Law on Radio and Television Broadcasting, operators are obliged to ensure that programs do not violate the Constitution or the Charter, and that they contribute to the preservation and development of Czech, as well as minority identity. Violations can lead to the revocation of broadcasting licenses. There are no special provisions providing state support for minority media or allocating airspace in public or private media to minorities.

A number of Roma media initiatives exist in the Czech Republic. Czech Radio, with a support of a Romani editorial department, produces a weekly one-hour program, "O Roma vakheren" (The Roma speak). Czech TV also produces and broadcasts Romani language programs. Four Roma periodicals receive funding from the Ministry of Culture (the newspapers "Romano Kurko" and "Romano Hangos," and the magazines "Amaro Gendalos" and "Kereka"), one of which, the bimonthly "Romano Hangos" (Romani Voice), has 3,500 subscribers.

Source: http://www.eumap.org/reports/content/10/203/minority_czech.pdf, The EU Accession Monitoring Program Report on Minority Protection, Open Society Institute 2001 on http://www.eumap.org/reports/content/10

¹ Law on Education, Article 6

² The "Alternative Special School Education Program for Pupils of Roma Origin," offered by the Ministry for Education, Youth and Sport, is available for all schools.

³ The school of Premysla Pittra in Ostrava was founded in 1993. By 1999 it had 218 students, 89 percent of whom were of Roma origin. The private Roma Social Secondary School in Kolin is now incorporated into the Czech schooling system and 60 percent of expenses are covered by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

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Updated (May 2004)

TWO BILLS TO PROTECT THE CZECH LANGUAGE

Two parliamentary initiatives have been launched by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSÈM): an amendment to the Bill on Broadcasting aiming to harmonize the Czech media with the European Union law and the Bill to amend the Czech Constitution. Both are being debated in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate or the Upper Chamber.

As for the first initiative, it requires commercial TV and radio broadcasters, including announcers, advertisers and the others to use correct Czech grammar. The Senate rejected this amendment on April 14, 2004 so it has been returned again to the Chamber of Deputies. This amendment was criticized to have several drawbacks. The bill does not specify any sanctions what makes such a provision pointless. Repeated violations of this amendment could have lead to revocation of a broadcast license. Senators, for instance, do not agree that broadcasters are those responsible for assuring the development of the Czech language, that the provision does not define what correct grammar is, and that such measure could even more diminish the Senate's popularity rate.

As regards the draft constitutional amendment, it was narrowly approved by the Chamber of Deputies in its first reading on March 31, 2004 and is expected to face considerable opposition as it makes its way through the parliamentary procedure.

This amendment stipulates that the state shall be obliged to ensure protection of the Czech language as an inseparable component of the state and national identity and also to guarantee that the minority rights shall not be infringed.

Source: Mercator News, April 2004, ÈTK, RFE/RL Newsline, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

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Updated (July 2004)

CZECH-ONLY LANGUAGE LAW REJECTED

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) made its second attempt to secure the position of Czech as the official language in the country. However, their motion was rejected by the overwhelming majority¹ of deputies in the Lower House.

The Czech communists argued that other European countries already have similar provisions, guaranteeing their languages the right to be used in government, courts and administration. They expressed concern that after the country's accession to the European Union, the Czech language is endangered by English or German.

The only deputy representing national minorities, Marian Bielesz, speaking in Polish criticized the proposal. He reminded the Chamber of Deputies that there are Slovaks, Poles, Germans and others who have traditionally lived on the Czech territory for centuries, often creating the majority in the regions of their settlement. Other government and opposition deputies also warned of "language totalitarianism" anchored in such a law.

However, according to the communists, the rights of national minorities would not be endangered since these are clearly laid down in a separate law. The proposed act would be nothing else as expression of the country's linguistic identity.

During the EU election campaign the Communist Party repeatedly emphasized that the Czech Republic is losing its sovereignty and linguistic identity. In their earlier motion in the Chamber of Deputies they also failed to push through a law forcing the media to use correct Czech terminology and grammar. This law would limit the use of "imported" words, particularly from the English language.

Minority representatives welcomed the rejection of both proposals; however, they also made it clear that Czech is in fact the only language that can be used in dealings with authorities. Although government provisions specifically permit the use of minority languages, officials as well as members of the minorities themselves generally make no effort to use them. Especially the Poles and the Germans are often scared to speak their mother tongues due to prejudice against these linguistic groups in the Czech society.

The measures promoting the use of minority languages, including bilingual signage and the officials dedicated to a particular language minority, do not exist so far.

Source: Eurolang News, Prague, July 1, 2004, by Peter Josika, http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4657

BENEŠ DECREES

Edvard Beneš was the President of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1948, spending seven years in exile while the country was occupied by the Nazis. His most famous legacy, the so-called "Beneš Decrees", were the legal basis for the expulsion of all "Germans, Hungarians and other enemies of the state" just after the end of World War II.

Beneš also played a prominent role at the post-war conference in Potsdam, at which the "transfer" of the Germans from Czechoslovakia was officially proclaimed by the victorious Allies.

In 1938, there were 3.5 million Germans living in Czechoslovakia, constituting about 35 percent of the total population of the Czech part of the country. After the post-war expulsions this number has decreased to 200,000 to 400,000 people and since then to only about 40,000 people.

Although many German supported the Nazi regime, the collective expulsion of an entire linguistic group from its historical homeland remains highly controversial. A lot of those that had stayed in Czechoslovakia soon felt alienated with their German language and culture, which was banned from public life. The "left over" Germans' current attempts to re-establish some of their traditional heritage in the Bohemian lands are often met with mistrust and prejudices of the majority population.

Many critics see the Beneš Decrees as breach of basic human rights because they are based on the presumption of collective guilt. However, a landmark decision by the High Court of the Czech Republic in Brno/Brünn defended the Decrees and called them the presumption of collective responsibility rather than the presumption of collective guilt.

The EU initially called for the abolition of the Decrees. When the Czech Republic refused to negotiate on this matter, an independent commission was set up and concluded that the Beneš Decrees do not breach EU accession requirements, although it was recommended to abolish them as a gesture of good will. However, the Czech Lower House shortly before the EU accession confirmed the Beneš Decrees unanimously, without any amendments.

The German minority in the Czech Republic itself is divided on the topic. The President of the Assembly of Germans in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, Mrs Irene Kunc, prefers to avoid the subject. According to her, the Decrees are a highly delicate issue and to bring them up over and over again has weakened rather than strengthened the attempts to reach progress in other areas.

Source: Eurolang News, Prague, July 6, 2004, by Peter Josika, http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4673

¹ 113 deputies

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Updated (May 2006)

SMALL STEPS FORWARD FOR MINORITIES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Nowadays, the Czech government is preparing to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. At the same time, changes to the Law on Municipalities will finally enable the full implementation of the Act on Minorities, which was passed in 2003, but major parts of the law could not be implemented, as the administrational and financial responsibilities had not been sufficiently defined. Therefore, the changes to the Law on Municipalities should solve these remaining issues. Another improvement for the minorities is a likely abolition of the requirement that 40 percent of adult members belonging to a minority had to request bilingual signage by petition. This requirement has now been dropped out of the original law. Despite these steps forward, experts remain pessimistic about the situation of linguistic minorities in the Czech Republic.

From the historical point of view, the extermination of the Jewish and Roma population during the World War II, the expulsion of the entire Sudeten Germans from the Republic afterwards and strong assimilation pressure on Polish speaking East Silesian area has extremely decreased the number of minorities living in the country. Since the 1930s, the German minority has shrunk from 4.3 million to 40,000 people and the Polish from 250,000 to 50,000. The decrease of the Jewish and Roma population over the same period has estimated at 80% and 70% respectively, although figures for these two groups are less reliable.

Most of the measures foreseen with the planned legislative changes are expected to do little more than to slow down the process of total assimilation over the coming years. Experts and minority representatives demand more pro-active solutions including bilingual schools in the traditional areas of settlement of the Polish and German minorities, as well as bilingual signs across all towns and regions where Polish and German were the historic majority languages. Roma representatives are highly critical about government projects that seem to stress assimilation, while there is little effort to protect Roma language and heritage. The attitude of the Czech authorities towards minorities in general, and the Roma in particular, also remains a major point of criticism.

In an interview with Eurolang, Dr. Andrej Sulitka, the Secretary Director of the Czech Council of National Minorities, discussed expected legislative changes in protection of minorities in the Czech Republic. Regarding the changes to the Minority Act and to the Law on Municipalities as well as the ratification of the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), Mr.Sulitka said that the change to Act 273/2001¹ is in force since 1 January 2003 and covers aspects related to the rights of linguistic minorities and the competence of municipalities in relation to Roma integration. Therefore, there are currently no plans to change this law. However, they are planning an amendment to Act 128/2000 related to municipalities. The main amendment is foreseen for section 29, where the requirement of a petition for the erection of bilingual signs is to be deleted. It has already been approved by the Czech Parliament and should be signed by the President shortly. The government has also agreed to ratify the ECRML, which was already approved by the Senate on 16 March 2006. Next, the Lower House (Chamber of Deputies) will discuss the ratification but only departmental law ensures the actual implementation of the Charter.

Concerning the issue of insufficient bilingual education for the Polish and German minority, Mr.Sulitka explained that Act 561/2004 regarding education establishes a Polish education network, which corresponds to the specific needs of the Polish minority. He argued that the government could not establish schools for which there is no demand. According to him, the Czech Republic does not prohibit or refuse the establishment of classes and schools with German as the language of instruction. The problem is that there is the minimal number of pupils required to establish a class. In pre-school education, it is at least 8 children belonging to the minority, in primary schools it increases to a minimum of 10 pupils, and in secondary school the number climbs to 12 pupils. An entire new maternity or primary school may be opened if all classes can be filled with a minimum of 12 pupils per class belonging to the minority, while for secondary schools it is the number of 15 pupils. On the other hand, if the above conditions for the establishment of a class or school are not fulfilled, the director, with the approval of the school owner, may establish bilingual classes in Czech and in the minority language. However, Mr.Sulitka pointed out that the German minority is spread out and that is the reason why it is impossible to set up a German language education system.

As it is known, Slovak minority is the largest ethnic group in the Czech Republic and one that undergoes particular assimilation pressure because Czech and Slovak are closely related languages. Therefore, Mr.Sulitka was asked about what measures protect this minority in his country. He said that many Czech laws and regulations allow the use of Slovak in administration on an equal level with the state language. Moreover, the Czech government supports Slovak language media and cultural activities, which are commonly accessible for the majority. He pointed out that there is no interest in education with Slovak as the language of instruction among members of the Slovak minority or with Slovak as a foreign language. This is the reason why schools do not provide Slovak language education. As an example, he used the last primary school with Slovak medium education in the town of Karvina, which was closed due to lack of interest.

Finally, Mr. Sulitka stated that the Czech republic is highly pro-active to solve the situation of Roma adding that the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education run a special grant project focusing on the integration of the Roma minority. Furthermore, their language together with Slovak is covered in the proposal for the ratification of the Charter of Regional and Minority Languages.

Source: Eurolang News, May 3, 2006 by Peter Josika http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2611&Itemid=1&lang=en

1. The Act on Rights of Members of National Minorities

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Updated (July 2006)

CZECH SILESIA: OLŠE RIVER MAY SOON BE RENAMED

The Polish minority living in the Czech-border town Český Těšín hosted an information event about the implementation of new legislation on bilingual signage and other minority-related issues on 21 June 2006.

Český Těšín is the Czech part of the historic Silesian city of Cieszyn, which was divided between Poland and former Czechoslovakia along the Olše River after the World War I, although the city and surroundings on both sides of the river were predominantly Polish speaking at that time.

Since 1918, the percentage of Poles in the Czech Republic declined from over eighty percent in all settlements to between fifteen and forty-five today. The use of bilingual signs was common up to the time after World War II, when Czech became the only officially recognized language in the republic. However, recent changes to the Czech Minority Law and the Act on Municipalities finally allow the erection of bilingual signage in territories where at least ten percent of the population belong to a minority.

This new legislation raised various problems associated with the introduction of bilingual signage. For example, there are organizations such as the Czech railways or police that question the application of the law in their areas of responsibility. Moreover, some people think that bilingual signage should be limited to major squares and streets due to lack of money.

Another area of concern is topographic names - after the World Wars, Czechoslovakia introduced new Czech terms for place names which were originally only in Polish or German. Especially, the replacement of the historic Polish name "Olza" for the main river in the area with the-then-invented Czech equivalent "Olše" has been a major issue of dispute for years. Some members of the Polish minority are also questioning the Czech name of the city of Český Těšín, which is historically a part of Silesia rather than a part of Bohemia. Therefore, they suggested rename the city to Slezský (Silesian) Těšýn or simply use only the name Těšín.

According to the Polish minority, the first bilingual signs in the Czech Republic are expected to be erected in the Těšín/Cieszyn area within a year. At this stage the two other major minorities in the Czech Republic, the Germans and Slovaks, have not yet applied for bilingual signage although some of their settlements and municipalities would qualify for it. Groups representing Germans that were expelled from former Czechoslovakia, for instance, have repeatedly demanded bilingual signage in areas where Sudeten Germans constituted the majority until their expulsion in 1945.

Source: Eurolang News, July 5, 2006 by Peter Josika http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2676&Itemid=0

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Updated (May 2007)

BILINGUAL SIGNAGE FOR THE POLISH MINORITY

After a long struggle, bilingual signs are soon to be erected in the Polish-speaking area of Czeski Cieszyn/Český Těšín.

As reported before, a law permitting bilingual signs in municipalities where more than 10 percent of the population is an autochthonous minority group was passed by the Czech Parliament in 2001. The signs were delayed, however, because it was found that the legislator failed to define various details, including the format of the signs; who would fund them; and the type of signs affected. Further, the legislation was found to include a clause defining that the erection of bilingual signs required a petition signed 40 percent of the minority group. The petition requirement was eventually dropped last year.

Bronislaw Walicki, former Deputy President of the Congress of Poles in the Czech Republic, is confident that this struggle has moved forward - they expect the erection of the first bilingual signage very soon. They are certain that street and town entry signs will be bilingual. However, it is not clear whether they will be erected in council buildings, railway stations and post offices.

The bilingual town entry signs will look similar to those currently used in Slovakia and Hungary. A sign with the Polish place-name with white letters on a blue background will simply be attached below the current Czech sign with the standard black writing on a white background. The fact that the sign in Polish will be in a different color than the Czech sign has been subject to criticism as it does not reflect European best practice whereby bilingual place names should always be displayed in the same size font and in the same color.

Source: Eurolang News, May 9, 2007 by Peter Josika http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2871&Itemid=1&lang=en

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