The shield that protects: Kosovo’s language commissioner
In a society where there are different communities speaking different languages, linguistic rights are crucial to fostering tolerance and non-discrimination. Yet nurturing a culture where these rights are respected and ensured by the institutions is never easy. This has been the challenge facing the Office of the Language Commissioner in Kosovo, which was established in 2012.
“We carefully monitor the situation, issue recommendations, prepare action plans and aim to achieve better integration of language policies into existing and future legislation,” says Slaviša Mladenović, the Language Commissioner and a former member of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo. He admits there is much to do in improving the implementation of Kosovo’s Law on the Use of Languages.
Around the world, language commissioners are a relatively new phenomenon.
Back in 2004, Seán Ó Cuirreáin of Ireland was just one of two language commissioners in the world (the other commissioner being in Canada) when he took up the cause of advocating for linguistic rights in his country. Seven years later, as a part of a wider initiative by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo to protect and promote linguistic rights, he helped establish the Office of the Language Commissioner in Kosovo.
Today, Ó Cuirreáin sees progress in the protection of linguistic rights in Kosovo but many shortcomings linger. Additional efforts should be made in mainstreaming linguistic rights into the overall implementation of legislation aimed at promoting and protecting communities’ rights, he says. Other challenges include a lack of awareness among communities about their linguistic rights, a lack of understanding among institutions about their responsibilities in implementing language legislation, and no sustainable mechanisms to address non-compliance with the language legislation.
Kosovo’s Law on the Use of Languages (2006): Article 1
1.1 The purpose of this law is to ensure:
(i) The use of the official languages, as well as languages of communities whose mother tongue is not an official language, in Kosovo institutions and other organizations and enterprises who carry out public functions and services;
(ii) The equal status of Albanian and Serbian as official languages of Kosovo and the equal rights as to their use in all Kosovo institutions;
(iii) The right of all communities in Kosovo to preserve, maintain and promote their linguistic identity;
(iv) The multilingual character of Kosovo society, which represents its unique spiritual, intellectual, historical and cultural values.1.2. At the Municipal level, other community languages, such as Turkish, Bosnian and Roma will be languages in official use under conditions specified in this Law.
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“Central to cultural identity”
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo has been working with institutions to push for more progress and in July 2015 organized two-day training courses led by Ó Cuirreáin in Pejё/Peć, western Kosovo, which brought together the Office of the Language Commissioner, and representatives of central-level institutions from the Communities’ Consultative Council’s working group on languages, the language policy board and the Kosovo Institute of Public Administration, among others.
“This was the first time that the OSCE Mission in Kosovo trained all relevant institutions jointly on the duties and obligations of central-level institutions in ensuring the international linguistic human rights of communities,” said Sehadin Shok, Communities Policy Officer within the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.
The training also raised awareness among participants about the need to have a functioning system in place to address concerns and violations of linguistic human rights.
“Such rights are an integral component of human rights and are central to cultural identity,” says Ó Cuirreáin. “Dangerous divisions can be avoided if linguistic rights and cultural diversities are respected. The failure to do so can often lead to various problems.”
He sees the Office of the Language Commissioner as a crucial element in helping institutions both at the central and local levels to comply with legal linguistic rights requirements. This is why the role of the Office and its capacities must be further enhanced.
Language legislation should be used as a protective shield rather than a sword. However, if the legislation is not implemented then it remains an empty promise enacted on paper only and there is no true progress in democracy.
Joining efforts
Language Commissioner Mladenović says that his Office is working tirelessly to inform both institutions and communities about their rights and obligations in the area of linguistic rights protection and promotion, and the OSCE Mission is of great help here. He describes the OSCE Mission in Kosovo as one of the most active actors in human and language rights and the main supporter of the Office in monitoring the implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages.
Some of positive results have already been achieved. Following advocacy efforts of the Office of Language Commissioner all civil registry documents are now available in Bosnian and Turkish in addition to Albanian and Serbian, which are the official languages in Kosovo.
Darko Dimitrijević, the Chair of the Communities’ Consultative Council, says small steps like these show that Kosovo is making progress towards a society where the linguistic rights of all its communities are protected.
“If institutions in Kosovo want to respect communities and treat them as equal then they should also respect their linguistic rights,” says Dimitrijević. “The focus should not be on how good the Law on the Use of Languages is but how well is it being implemented to protect the rights of all.”