December 6, 2016
Languages Act and Ordinance
Switzerland’s Federal Languages Act adopted by the national referendum in 2007 (LangA – Federal Act on National Languages and Understanding between the Linguistic Communities) came into force in 2010. It is supplemented with the ordinance as well as corresponding provisions for application and implementation (LangO – Ordinance on National Languages and Understanding between the Linguistic Communities). The Confederation has thus created a formal basis for legislation based on Articles 4, 18 and 70 of the Constitution which enables it to support linguistic minorities and plurilingual cantons as well as the various organisations, institutions and projects in the area of languages and comprehension.
With the Federal Languages Act, the federal government intends to “reinforce plurilingualism as a key feature of Switzerland” and “fortify the nation’s internal cohesion”. Furthermore, it aims to strengthen “individual and institutional plurilingualism in the national languages” as well as “Romansh and Italian” in both the federal administration and the population. In concrete terms, it aims to facilitate the use of the Confederation’s various official languages, namely, in public services, and to adopt measures to promote understanding and exchange (access to education, language exchanges, translations, financial aid, etc.). In addition, there is financial support for the four plurilingual cantons (Bern, Fribourg, Graubünden and Wallis) and the commitment to ensure the representation of Latin linguistic communities particularly by promoting the Italian (Ticino) and Romansh (Graubünden) language and culture – the latter in connection with the Council of Europe’s recommendations for Switzerland subsequent to its ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1997.
The new legislation is supplemented with a series of legislative texts which underpin and explain it. For instance, the “Explanations of Ordinance on National Languages and Understanding between the Linguistic Communities (LangO)”, which explains and comments on the ordinance, Article by Article. There is also the “Explanation of the Amendment to the Ordinance National Languages and Understanding between the Linguistic Communities (LangO)”, which includes the main points of the amendment and comments on the new provisions. As a result, the federal government has also revised its instructions on plurilingualism (Federal Council’s Instructions for Promoting Plurilingualism in Federal Administration). In addition, it has drawn up an “Explanatory Report on the Complete Revision of Instructions on Plurilingualism” with which the Federal Council’s instructions for promoting plurilingualism in the federal administration will be transferred from the previous framework of the Federal Personnel Ordinance (FPersO) to the new legislative framework of the LangO.
The commencement of the Federal Languages Act had an impact on other laws: for example, the “Regulations on Granting Financial Aid for the Promotion of National Languages in Classrooms and on Fostering Skills of Speakers with Other Language Backgrounds in their Primary Language”.
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