Strasbourg, 22 September 2014 MIN-LANG (2014) PR 8 EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES Third periodical report presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter CZECH REPUBLIC III. THE THIRD PERIODICAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNDERTAKINGS ARISING FROM THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Part I ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 I. 1. Promotion of regional or minority languages as part of the Czech cultural heritage ..................................... 5 I. 2. Legislation in relation to the Charter – the Council, committees for national minorities, education in national minority languages, bilingual names ........................................................................................................ 10 I. 2. 1. The Government Council for National Minorities ............................................................ 10 I. 2. 2. Amendment to Act on Municipalities ............................................................................... 11 I. 2. 3. Education and national minorities ..................................................................................... 12 I. 2. 4. Bilingual names ................................................................................................................. 13 I. 3. Protection and promotion of German and Romani languages and conditions for their use in public life .. 14 I. 3.1. German language ................................................................................................................ 14 I. 3.2. Romani language ................................................................................................................ 16 I. 4. The 2011 Census Results ................................................................................................................................. 17 I. 4. 1. Affiliation to a nationality – a comparison of the 1991, 2001 and 2011 censuses results . 17 I. 4. 2. The 2011 census and individual national minorities ......................................................... 19 I. 4. 3. Mother tongue in the 2011 census ..................................................................................... 24 I. 5. Recommendations as to the second monitoring cycle ................................................................................... 24 Part II ..................................................................................................................................................... 28 Article 7 paragraph 1 – Objectives and principles ................................................................................................. 28 a) Recognition of the regional and minority languages as an expression of cultural wealth ........ 28 b) Respect for the geographical area of minority languages......................................................... 28 c) Action to promote minority languages in order to safeguard them .......................................... 28 d) Encouragement of the use of minority languages .................................................................... 28 e) Development of links between groups using different languages ............................................ 29 f) Support for the teaching and study of minority languages........................................................ 29 g) Study and research on minority languages at universities or equivalent institutions ............... 29 h) Study and research on minority languages at universities or equivalent institutions ............... 29 i) Transnational exchanges ........................................................................................................... 29 Elimination of (protection/intervention against) the discrimination of minority languages ......... 29 Promotion of mutual understanding between linguistic groups ................................................... 30 Consultation mechanisms ............................................................................................................. 31 Application of the principles to non-territorial languages ............................................................ 32 Part III. .................................................................................................................................................. 33 Article 8 – Education ............................................................................................................................................... 33 Pre-school education ..................................................................................................................... 33 Basic education ............................................................................................................................. 34 Secondary education, and technical and vocational education ..................................................... 38 Third level education .................................................................................................................... 39 Adult education, and further education ........................................................................................ 42 Teaching of history and culture ...................................................................................................... 43 The duty of supervisors, and reporting ......................................................................................... 44 Article 9 – Judicial organs ....................................................................................................................................... 45 Use of minority languages in criminal proceedings ..................................................................... 45 The use of minority language in civil proceedings ....................................................................... 46 Use of minority language in judicial proceedings regarding administrative matters ................... 46 Validity of legal documents .......................................................................................................... 47 Article 10 – Public administration and public services organs ............................................................................. 47 Use of minority languages in within the framework of administrative and self-government units .... 47 Informing speakers of regional or minority languages about holding elections or local referenda in the languages of the national minorities, by public administration .......................................... 48 Use of traditional toponymical names .......................................................................................... 49 Use of minority languages in public services ............................................................................... 49 Translations and interpreting ........................................................................................................ 49 Use or adoption of surnames in regional or minority languages .................................................. 50 Article 11 – Mass media .......................................................................................................................................... 51 Broadcasting in minority languages in radio and television ......................................................... 51 Support of the production and distribution of audio-visual and audio works in regional or minority languages ....................................................................................................................... 55 Support for the publishing of printed matter ................................................................................ 55 The right to purchase broadcasts from neighbouring countries .................................................... 56 Article 12 – Cultural activity and cultural facilities ............................................................................................... 57 Supporting access to works, and support of events in minority language .................................... 57 Participation by minority language speakers in the planning of cultural activities ...................... 58 The collection and archiving of works in regional or minority languages ................................... 60 Presentation of culture associated with minority language abroad ............................................... 62 Article 13 – Economic and social life ..................................................................................................................... 63 Behaviour (protection/interference) against discrimination against minority languages ............. 63 Article 14 – Cross-border exchanges ...................................................................................................................... 64 Support of cross-border co-operation ........................................................................................... 64 List of Tables 1 Amount of the grant in the Programme to support the dissemination and reception of information in national minority 5 languages for the monitoring period 2 Amount of the grant in the Programme to support cultural activities of members