Language Research

The Federal Council (government) has started drafting a new series of Laws relating to Article 70 of the Constitution (which deals with language) on official languages and the understanding between communities. These are scheduled for ratification in the second half of 2000. Whilst there are still obstacles, the new Federal Language Laws should include: language support and the development of understanding among various language communities; definition as to how languages should be used in Federal Institutions and in their communications and organization of the services stipulated by Article 70 of the Federal Constitution and other related legislation.

According to the working group compiling the drafts, the intent of the new legislation is to preserve Switzerland as a country of four languages. They do not see any reason why this vision should be re-defined. The multilingual phenomenon is too tightly connected with heritage, the federal structure and the national consciousness.

Updated (November 2001)

In November, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers adopted recommendations for Switzerland on their applications of the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Committee recommended that federal, cantonal and municipal authorities ensure that the Romansh-speaking community fully benefit from the protection provided by the Charter. It calls for the removal of legal and practical obstacles to the use of Romansh and Italian languages before judicial authorities in the Canton of Grisons and for the improvement of their use at the level of the federal administration.

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