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Suomen Toinen Raportti THE THIRD PERIODIC REPORT OF FINLAND ON THE APPLICATION OF THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES February 2006 CONTENT INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 3 GENERAL PART................................................................................................................................... 5 1. BASIC INFORMATION ON FINLAND ........................................................................... 5 2. REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES IN FINLAND ....................................... 6 3. NUMBERS OF PERSONS SPEAKING REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES IN FINLAND.................................................................................................... 8 4. NUMBERS OF NON•TERRITORIAL LANGUAGES AND OF PERSONS using THEM IN FINLAND................................................................................................................... 8 5. GOVERNMENT STATEMENTS AND REPORTS...................................................... 11 PART I..................................................................................................................................................... 14 I.1. MAIN LEGAL ACTS WHEREBY THE CHARTER HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN FINLAND ............................................................................................ 14 I.2. BODIES AND ORGANISATIONS FURTHERING THE PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES .......................... 19 I.3. BODIES AND ORGANISATIONS CONSULTED ON THE PREPARATION OF THE REPORT....................................................................................................................... 21 I.4. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON THE RIGHTS AND THE DUTIES DERIVING FROM THE APPLICATION OF THE CHARTER.................................... 21 I.5. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................. 22 I.6. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS GIVEN BY THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS............................................................................. 24 I.7. CONTRIBUTION TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................................................................... 25 PART II ................................................................................................................................................... 26 ARTICLE 7: OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES................................................................. 26 PART III.................................................................................................................................................. 41 III.1 SWEDISH – THE LESS WIDELY USED NATIONAL LANGUAGE .............. 41 ARTICLE 8: EDUCATION ...................................................................................................... 41 ARTICLE 9: JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES.............................................................................. 45 ARTICLE 10: ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC SERVICES....... 50 ARTICLE 11: MEDIA ................................................................................................................ 55 ARTICLE 12: CULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND FACILITIES ......................................... 56 ARTICLE 13: ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE............................................................... 59 ARTICLE 14: TRANSFRONTIER EXCHANGES ............................................................. 61 III.2 SÁMI • A REGIONAL MINORITY LANGUAGE ................................................... 63 ARTICLE 8: EDUCATION ...................................................................................................... 63 ARTICLE 9: JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES.............................................................................. 69 ARTICLE 10: ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC SERVICES....... 71 ARTICLE 11: MEDIA ................................................................................................................ 77 ARTICLE 12: CULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND FACILITIES ......................................... 80 ARTICLE 13: ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE............................................................... 84 ARTICLE 14: TRANSFRONTIER EXCHANGES ............................................................. 85 ANNEX 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 87 ANNEX 2 ...................................................................................................................................... 88 2 INTRODUCTION The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was opened for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 5 November 1992, when it was also signed by Finland. Finland ratified the Charter on 9 November 1994, and it entered into force on 1 March 1998. By the end of November 2005 Charter has been ratified by 19 member States of the Council of Europe. The purpose of the Charter is to protect and promote the historical regional or minority lan• guages of Europe. It aims to maintain and develop Europe's cultural traditions and heritage, and to promote the respect for the inalienable and commonly recognised right to use a re• gional or minority language in private and public life. In Parts I and II, the Charter enunciates the objectives and principles that the Parties under• take to apply to all the regional or minority languages spoken within their territory. These in• clude respect for the geographical area of each language; need for the promotion, facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of regional or minority languages in speech and writing, as well as in public and private life (by appropriate measures of teaching and study, and by trans• frontier exchanges for languages used in identical or similar form in other States). Part III of the Charter contains a number of specific measures to promote the use of regional or minority languages in public life. These measures cover the following fields: education, jus• tice, administrative authorities and public services, media, cultural activities and facilities, eco• nomic and social activities and transfrontier exchanges. Upon ratifying the Charter, Finland declared that it will apply 65 of the provisions under Part III of the Charter to the Swedish language (the less widely used official language) and 59 to the Sámi language (a regional language). Furthermore, Finland declared that it undertakes to apply, mutatis mutandis, the principles listed in Part II of the Charter to the Roma language and other non•territorial languages. The implementation of the Charter is monitored by a Committee of Experts which examines periodic reports presented by the Parties. The reports are also made public. The Committee of Experts is composed of one member per Party. The candidates are nomi• nated by the Party concerned. The members of the Committee are appointed by the Commit• tee of Ministers of the Council of Europe from a list of individuals of the highest integrity and recognised competence in the matters dealt with in the Charter. The members of the Commit• tee are appointed for a period of six years and they are eligible for reappointment. Bodies or associations legally established in a Party may draw the attention of the Committee of Experts to matters relating to the undertakings entered into by that Party under Part III of the Charter. After consulting the Party concerned, the Committee of Experts may take ac• count of this information in the preparation of its report. These bodies or associations can fur• ther submit statements concerning the policy pursued by the Party in accordance with Part II. On the basis of the reports and the information received from such bodies as mentioned above, the Committee of Experts prepares a report for the Committee of Ministers. This re• port shall be accompanied by the comments which the Parties have been requested to make, and it may be made public by the Committee of Ministers. This report shall contain in particu• 3 lar the proposals of the Committee of Experts to the Committee of Ministers for the prepara• tion of such recommendations of the latter body to one or more of the Parties as may be re• quired. In the context of monitoring the implementation of the Charter, the Committee of Experts visited Finland in May 2003, meeting representatives of the Government and of the non• governmental sector. Finland was the first country visited by the Committee. When consider• ing the implementation of the Charter in Finland, the Committee of Experts had access to the Second Report of the Government of Finland, the information given by the Government in reply to additional questions, supplementing the Second Report, as well as information re• ceived during the visit of the Committee. In addition, bodies and associations legally estab• lished in Finland had an opportunity to draw the attention of the Committee of Experts to matters of interest for them. Having considered the Second Report, the Committee of Experts submitted its second coun• try•specific report concerning Finland and its draft recommendations to the Committee of Ministers in summer 2004. The Government was given an opportunity to comment on the report and the draft recommendations. On 20 October 2004, the Committee of Ministers adopted its Recommendations on the appli• cation of the European
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