The Assembly of Kosovo adopted the Law on the Use of Languages in order to
respect the linguistic identity of all people living in Kosovo and to create an
environment for all communities to express and preserve their language and
culture. The Law reaffirms that the official and equal languages in Kosovo are
Albanian and Serbian, while “other community languages, such as Turkish,
Bosnian and Roma can be languages in official use” at the municipal level.
Use of Languages in Municipal Institutions
A
language is an official language at the municipal level if it is the mother
tongue of at least 5% of the inhabitants of that municipality, and such a language
will have equal status in that municipality to Kosovo’s official languages.
Regardless of this provision, Turkish is defined as an official language in the
Municipality of Prizren; as under Article 2.4, a language will be considered a
language in official use at the municipal level if it is the mother tongue of
at least 3% of the municipality’s inhabitants or if that language was
traditionally spoken in the municipality. People belonging to communities whose
language is in official use also have the right in their communication with the
municipality to “present oral or written submissions and documents, and to
receive a reply in their own language”.
Use of Languages in Judicial Proceedings
The
Law stipulates that a person who is arrested or charged with a criminal offence
and who does not speak or understand the language(s) of the proceedings has the
right to be promptly informed about the reasons for the arrest and of any
charge against him or her in a language he/she understands. Moreover, “persons
belonging to communities whose mother tongue is not an official language who
are participating in criminal proceedings have the right to make submissions,
testify and hear the facts of the case and any evidence against them, in their
mother tongue” . The court and prosecution bodies are required to provide free
translation to those involved in the criminal proceedings.
These
two provisions can be understood together as an overall guarantee that any
judicial proceeding will be carried out in such a way that all people involved
can be informed and communicate in their native language, regardless of its
official status or lack thereof.
Use of Languages in Education
The
Law on the Use of Languages specifies that community members have the right to
receive public school education in their mother tongue. At the same time, one
official language of choice must always be studied, and a student with his/her
parents has the right to “decide in which official language his/her school
records will be kept, and reports issued, by the educational institutions that
he/she attends”.
Use of Languages in the Media
According
to Article 25, any person in Kosovo has the right to establish media and
broadcasting time on the public broadcaster in the language of his/her choice.
Personal Names and City, Street, and
Topographical Names
According
to Article 27.1, a person has the right to have his/her name and surname
registered in the public civil records and written on personal identification
documents in the official language of his/her choice, which includes the
writing system. The law also establishes that “official signs indicating or
including the names of municipalities, villages, roads, streets and other
public places shall be displayed in the official languages and in the languages
that have the status of official language in the municipality”.
Office of the Language Commissioner
In order to ensure, promote
and supervise the implementation of Law on the Use of Languages, and in
accordance thereof, the Government of Kosovo established the Office
of the Language Commissioner.