27 February 2008, 14:07
The Bill (Reg. No.1015-1) defines the status and the peculiarities of use of languages in Ukraine in different fields of national and social life; aims and principles of the State language policy.
The Committee members discussed the Bill and stated that its regulations had considerable conceptual defects and failed to comply with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.
Thus, the Constitution of Ukraine neither contains the term "fundamental Law" nor establishes subordination between the Laws. Moreover, the concept "languages of national minorities", as envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine, is replaced by the concept "regional languages", and the term "national minorities" with the term "language groups".
Furthermore, Article 5 of the Bill fails to comply either with the Constitution and the Laws of Ukraine, or with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
The Committee members believe that the Bill puts the Russian language in the preferred position as to the languages of other national minorities.
Therefore, the People´s Deputies resolved that the Bill "restricts the sphere of use of the Ukrainian language, which contradicts to Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages".