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Article 40 and 106 of Law on local
public administration stipulate that in the territorial-administrative units where the
share of the citizens belonging to a national minority is over 20% of the number of
inhabitants, they shall enjoy the right to be informed in their mother tongue about the
agenda of the local or county council session. Moreover, in the local or county councils
where the councilors belonging to a national minority represent at least one third of the
total number, their mother tongue may also be used in the council meetings. In such cases,
the translation into Romanian language should be ensured by the courtesy of the mayor.
However, in all the cases, the documents of the council meetings shall be drawn up in the
Romanian language (Article 43 paragraph 3).
On the other hand, Article 51
stipulates that (
) the decisions of normative character shall be brought to
the public knowledge also in the mother tongue of the respective minority, while those of
individual character shall be communicated, only at request, in the minority
language. Under the same condition (persons belonging to a national minority
represent at least 20% of the number of inhabitants) the local authorities shall ensure
the inscription in the respective minority language of the names of localities, names of
public institutions under their authority and of public announcements (Article 90
paragraph 4).
In December 2001, the Government issued
Decision no. 1206/2001 on the adoption of application Guidelines for the provisions
concerning the right of citizens belonging to national minority to use the mother tongue
in local public administration, as stipulated in the Law of local public administration
no. 215/200. This regulation has a double importance: it details the linguistic rights
laid down in the Law and is has the role to facilitate the implementation of the new legal
provisions regarding national minorities. As regards
the details, according to Article 9, for example, stipulates that official ceremonies
organized by the local public administration authorities shall be performed in Romanian,
the official language of the State but, in administrative-territorial units in which
citizens belonging to a national minority represent at least 20% of the number of
inhabitants, the language of the respective minority may also be used. Marriage service
shall be performed by the matrimonial officer in Romanian. Upon request, the marriage
ceremony may be performed in the mother tongue of the persons to be married, provided the
matrimonial officer speaks the respective language. Marital documents and certificates
shall be drawn up in Romanian language exclusively. As regards implementation, the
Governmental Decision specifies in Article 11 and 12 how the how the inscription of the
names of localities and public institution should look like. The act contains also
twenty-three Annexes with minority languages names of the localities where bilingual
sign are needed.
The Law was challenged at
Constitutional Court because of its provisions regarding linguistic rights of minorities
but the unconstitutionality charges were rejected as un-grounded. In the Decision no. 112
of 9 April 2001, the Court held that none of the provisions cited states that the
language of a national minority is an official language. On the contrary, paragraph (3) of
Art. 43 provides that the official language of the state is Romanian, and quotes from Art.
13 of the Constitution. Furthermore, the text of the articles subject to notification
expressly states that, when the percentage of citizens belonging to a national minority
exceeds 20% of the total population of the relevant administrative-territorial unit, the
use of mother tongue shall be ensured in the relations with the local public
administration authorities, as well as in public documents, without thereby violating the
official status of Romanian language. (
) The Law of local public administration
merely states and fixes the details of the enforcement of the provisions in Art. 10.2 of
the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which, according to
Art. 11.2 and 20.2 of the Constitution, may be directly enforced.
In the Opinion on Romanian State
Report of First Monitoring Cycle, Advisory Committee proposed to The Committee of
Ministers of Council of Europe to conclude that the Law on local public administration
recently adopted by Romanian Parliament could put an end to the legal uncertainty
prevailing in the use of minority languages in dealings with local authorities and to
recommend to Romanian authorities to pay sufficient attention to the implementation of
this Law once this has entered into force. A similar positive evaluation can be found in
the Regular Report of the European Commission on Romanias progress towards accession
(November 2003): the law providing for bilingual signs in localities where
minorities represent over 20% of the population has now been applied in the vast majority
of cases. In the same localities, implementation has also started of the legal requirement
for police officers to speak the mother tongue of the respective minority.
In Romania, in the last decade, Police forces
went through a slow process of reform from a repressive apparatus to a demilitarized force
in the service of citizens. Military ranks disappeared but this measure alone is not
enough to improve communication between police and population or inter-ethnic relations
within a mixed community. Law no. 360/2002 concerning the Status of Policepersons tries to
full a gap between police forces (traditionally composed by ethnic Romanians) and persons
belonging to national minorities. Article 10 declares that all persons, irrespective of
their race, nationality, sex, religion, wealth or social origins, who meet the
general legal conditions provided for public employees, as well as the special terms
listed in the law, shall have access to the entrance examination to the educational
institutions of the Ministry of the Interior, as well as to direct employment. Moreover,
Article 79 stipulates that in the administrative-territorial units where persons belonging
to a national minority represent over 20% of the total population, policepersons who speak
the language of the respective minority shall be also hired.
3.4. Linguistic rights
and media
The Audiovisual Law no. 504/2002
underlines that National Audiovisual Council, as guarantor of the public interest in the
field of radio and television broadcasting shall ensure the protection of Romanian
culture and language, as well as of the languages and cultures of national
minorities; and shall take measures for the correct use of the Romanian
language and the languages of national minorities. Article 82 of the law stipulates
that in localities where a national minority is larger than 20%, the distributors shall
also ensure transmission services for the programmes free to retransmission, in the
language of the respective minority. Public TV and Radio at national and local level
broadcast programmes in the languages of the largest minorities (Hungarians, Roma;
Germans, Ukrainians, etc.). According to Decision no 14/1999 of National Audiovisual
Council, TV programmes in other languages than Romanian have to be translated into
Romanian by way of subtitles, dubbing or simultaneous translation. The only exceptions to
this general rule are music videos and educational programmes for teaching foreign
languages.
According to the report
Minority-language broadcasting and legislation in the OSCE", (17) the access of persons belonging to
national minorities to broadcasts in their own languages across borders is not
restricted, and there are no restrictions with regard to particular languages. Bilateral
treaties that Romania has concluded with its neighbors (Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria,
Yugoslavia) have provisions guaranteeing these minorities free and unlimited access to
broadcasting, press and electronic networks in their own languages."
Print and online media in minority languages is
free but due to lack of own resources the publications of small minorities are subsidized
by State. This situation means that media life of these minorities is dependent on
budgetary resources. Association of National Minority Media is a member of Convention of
media organization in Romania as well as the Association of Hungarian Journalists
in Romania that is the catalyst of Hungarian language media. The major part of
regional radio and TV stations, daily and weekly newspapers in Hungarian language in
Romania is private.
4. Roma minority
The matter of linguistic rights of Roma
deserves a special attention because of specific and complex situation of this national
minority. In the last years, it is submitted that both governmental and non-governmental
efforts to improve Romas conditions were intensified. As regards education, Ministry
of Education, Research and Youth tries to build a system able to train future teachers
belonging to Roma ethnic group, to involve more Roma community in the educational
programmes designed in partnership with Roma NGOs and to adapt
more its strategies to Roma values, traditions and way of life. Since 1999, there were
created special positions for inspectors on Roma education as part of
each County Board of Education. Although the phrase affirmative action is not
used by officials, there are special places for Roma children that graduated eight grade,
at admission in high-schools and vocational schools (in 2002 there were 1350 places
allocated for Roma children, and in 2003 there were 3000) as well as special places for
Roma at admission in universities and colleges (in 2002 there were 393 places, and in 2003
there were 422 special places in 39 universities). The Roma students can work in the same
time as teachers of Roma language and Roma history and tradition, in schools, at classes
with Roma students. At the request of parents, in 2003-2004 academic year, a number of
15,708 Roma pupils enrolled in the grades I-XIII benefit of an additional Roma curriculum
(3-4 classes weekly of Roma language and literature and one class weekly of History and
traditions of Roma for the grades VI and VII). Counties Board of Education finance around
300 teacher positions of Roma language and history. Young Roma have started teaching those
subjects to more than 18.000 Roma children in September 2003, at the beginning of the
academic year. It is worth noting that, for the first time in the Romanian educational
system, in September 2003 has been established a class with integral teaching in Roma
language, at Măguri School Lugoj, Timis County. A priority seems to be now the elaboration of more
educational materials for Roma: primers and textbooks in Roma language, Romanian
Roma and Hungarian Roma dictionaries. (18)
Although the official data look
encouraging, it should not be forgotten that Roma are still facing serious problems in
enjoying legitimate rights in every day life. The fact of the matter is that situation of
Roma represent already a top European matter and in order to achieve concrete results,
national measures must be more effectively doubled by concrete European policies.
5. Conclusions
Romanian experience as regards linguistic
rights of national minorities can be described, ultimately, as a positive one. Ten years
ago, there were no legal provisions on this matter except the abstract constitutional
principle of preservation of linguistic identity. Nowadays, persons belonging to a
national minority can rely on a specific legal framework in order to defend their
linguistic rights as regards education, public administration and media. On the other
hand, it s observable that the degree in which a minority can take advantage of those
legal standards depends in a certain extent on its size. A Hungarian may receive education
in his mother tongue from kindergarten to university while a person belonging to a small
minority may be able only to study his/her mother tongue in schools with tuition in
Romanian, because there are not enough requests from the parents and teaching staff in
order to establish educational units with tuition in his/her mother tongue. Moreover,
media in the languages of small minorities hardly can survive without financial support
from the State thus not being in the position to be very critical towards governmental
initiatives. In the case of Roma minority there were made steps forward but it is obvious
that further measures are needed to put flesh on governmental strategies which look nice
on paper but less impressive in the implementation phase.
The main reforms in the national
minorities field, including linguistic policy, have been made in the last ten years
and new big legislative changes are not really expected. It may be asserted, however, that
three issues are still on the minority agenda and wait for a political
decision: a framework law on national minorities, ratification of European Charter of
Regional or Minority Languages and establishment of a State University with tuition in
minority language(es).
6. Bibliography
Constantin, Sergiu: "The
Hungarian Status Law on Hungarian Living In Neighboring Countries", in European Yearbook of Minority Issues, Volume 1,
2001/2.
Kymlicka, W. and A. Patten (editors): Language Rights and Political Theory, Oxford
University Press, 2003.
Reports
Laszlo Murvai, Leman Ali, Christiane
Cosmatu, Ivan Kovaci, Gheorghe Sarau, Filip Stanciu, Vieroslava Timar (editors), The dimension of education for national minorities in
Romania, General Directorate for Education in the Languages of National Minorities and
Access to Education of the Ministry of Education, Research and Youth, Bucharest, 2003.
Tarlach McGonagle, Bethany Davis Noll, Monroe
Price, Minority-language broadcasting and legislation in OSCE, Institute for
Information Law (IViR), Universiteit van Amsterdam, Programme in Comparative Media Law and
Policy (PCMLP), Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford University,
Study commissioned by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, April 2003.
Gheorghe Sarau, Ministrys
of Education, Research and Youth strategic directions regarding Roma education between
1998 and 2004, General Directorate for Education in the Languages of National
Minorities and Access to Education of the Ministry of Education, Research and Youth,
Bucharest, 2004.
European Commission Regular Report on
Romanias progress towards accession (November 2003).
Opinion of the Advisory Committee on
the Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities on the Romanian State
Report of First Monitoring Cycle, (10 January 2002).
Internet resources
Minority Rights Information System
(MIRIS database)
http://www.eurac.edu/miris
Ministry of Education, Research and
Youth
Education in minority languages webpage
http://www.edu.ro/mino.htm
Sergiu Constantin
European Academy of
Bolzano/Bozen
sergiu.constantin@eurac.edu |