Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku International Multiculturalism Centre Azerbaijani Multiculturalism Textbook for Higher Education
The protection, use and development of minority languages in the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan
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The protection, use and development of minority languages in the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan
The protection of minority languages is enshrined in the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Both the law on language and other legislative acts contain provisions on the use, protection and development of the languages of the peoples living in the country.
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The Azerbaijani language is the official language of the country and is used by central government in official and formal communication throughout the country. At the same time, legislation ensures the right of national minorities to use their languages as well as the country’s official language in corresponding official situations in the areas where they predominantly live (in courts, law enforcement and other administrative bodies), in secondary education and in the mass media. The official language has no advantages over the non-titular languages in the informal and unofficial spheres. Language legislation guarantees the use and protection of the official language, as well as the free use of non-titular languages.
Discrimination against the languages and cultures of minorities within legislation (failure to protect the languages of minorities in provisions of the law, etc.) restricts the use of these languages and exposes them to various political, economic and social pressures. This may lead to the dissatisfaction of minorities and conflict between them and the titular population. The government of the Republic of Azerbaijan has always kept an eye on this, so provisions concerning the languages and cultures of minorities are an integral part of the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It should be noted that the language issue is not a new one in the legislation of Azerbaijan. Even in the Soviet period changes in the Azerbaijani Constitutions of 1937 and 1956 covered not only the national language, but other languages as well: Article 151says: ‘The official language of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan is Azerbaijani. The ethnic minorities living on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan have the right to use and develop their languages in cultural and state institutions.’ The Constitution Public of 1978 also ensures the use and development of non-titular languages: ‘The Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan ensures the free use and development of the Russian language, as well as of the languages of minorities.’ Even after independence, Azerbaijan ensured the protection of minority languages. Article 21 of the 1995 Constitution says: ‘The Republic of Azerbaijan ensures the free use and development of all languages spoken by the population.’ Other legislative acts adopted after independence also ensure the protection of the languages of minorities. It should be noted that Azerbaijan was the first of the post-Soviet states to adopt an official document on the rights and freedoms of national minorities. In 1992 the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed a decree ‘On the protection of the rights and freedoms of national minorities and ethnic groups living in Azerbaijan, and on state support of their languages and cultures.’ All Though the law on the state language adopted in 2002 proclaimed the Azerbaijani language to be the official language of the country (in the 1992 Language Act, the state language was called not Azerbaijani, but Turkic), it did not define Azerbaijani as the common language for all peoples living in the country. Nevertheless, the law on language ensured the right of minorities to use their mother tongue freely in a number of official situations (in court, notaries public and in certain administrative organs). For example, Article 11.3 of the Language Act says: ‘In notaries public the clerical work in the Republic of Azerbaijan is carried out in the official language of the country. If a person applying for action from a notary public in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On notaries public” does not know the official language or asks for the notary public business to be conducted in any other language, where possige the notary public may write the texts of documents in the desired language or the text may be translated by a translator.’
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The codes of Administrative Offences, Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure of the Republic of Azerbaijan guarantee the right of minorities to use their own languages. In all three codes violations of the rights of people to use their languages are punished by the relevant provisions of the code. Such a breach of law would entail cancellation of the relevant court verdict by a higher instance. The Administrative Offences Code ensures the right of minorities to use their mother tongue: ‘363. The language in which the proceedings on administrative offences are conducted. ‘363.1. Proceedings dealing with administrative offences in the Republic of Azerbaijan are conducted in the Azerbaijani language or in the language of the majority of the population living in a given territory. ‘363.2. Persons participating in the case who do not know the language of the administrative offence proceedings shall have the right to use information, explanations, complaints or petitions in their mother tongue or in any other language, as well as to use the services of translators as prescribed by this Code.’ This right is reflected in the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan: ‘Article 11. The Language of Court Proceedings ‘11.1. Court proceedings in civil cases and economic disputes are conducted in the official language of the Republic of Azerbaijan – Azerbaijani – or in the language of the majority of the population in a given territory. ‘11.2. Persons who do not know the language of the proceedings shall have the right to be acquainted with all the materials of the case, give explanations, express their opinion, make statements in Yüklə 2,25 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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