Published: 2021-12-26

Constitutional Guarantees for the Protection of a State’s Official Language and Minority Rights: the Estonian

Katarzyna Szwed
Zeszyty Prawnicze
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2021.21.4.03

Abstract

This paper analyses the Estonian constitutional and statutory provisions concerning the status of the official language of the Republic of Estonia and the national minorities in that country. Since the 1990s the restoration of Estonian statehood has been closely connected with the protection of Estonian, the country’s official language. When Estonia was part of the Soviet Union, Russian was the prevalent language used in administrative institutions and by state officials, as well as in the key sectors of the Estonian economy. The country’s social structure underwent a significant change – speakers of Russian made up a considerable part of the population. The authorities of independent Estonia considered it a priority to implement appropriate legal regulations making Estonian the official language of the Republic of Estonia for use in public discourse. But at the same time it was imperative to secure the rights of national minorities, which the international community required Estonia to respect. This paper is an attempt to assess the extent to which Estonia has managed to balance its constitutional values, i.e. the protection of its official language, with the principle of non-discrimination.

Keywords:

language rights; Estonia; national minorities; language policy.

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Citation rules

Szwed, K. (2021). Constitutional Guarantees for the Protection of a State’s Official Language and Minority Rights: the Estonian. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 21(4), 63–89. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2021.21.4.03

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