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U.S. English Foundation Research FINLAND
Language Research1. Legislation: Legislation dealing with the use of languages The new Finnish Constitution came into force on March 1, 2000, thus over-riding the former one, promulgated on July 17, 1919. In terms of linguistic rights, the new text defines both Finnish and Swedish as national languages and guarantees the citizens' right to use either of the two languages before any administrative or court authority. In regards to the state's minority languages and cultures, such as the indigenous Sami's, or others such as the Roma's, the Constitution guarantees their members right to use and develop their respective languages. According to the Constitution, the Sami community now will have the right to self-government in linguistic and cultural policy matters in their native areas, and the use of their language will be constitutionally protected. The Language Law (Språklag June 1, 1922/148) governs the use of the two official languages. It was enacted in 1921 and modified in 1935, 1971 and 1975. Finnish and Swedish should be used in every body of the government according to the language of the citizen concerned. It means that, at least in theory, each citizen has the right to be served in his/her language. However, the only official language of the Islands of Åland is Swedish. The official language of the municipalities or of their constituent parts shall be the language spoken by the whole population, or both languages if the minority exceeds 8% of the population or are more than 3,000 in number. Any administrative unit including more than one municipality is monolingual if all municipalities are monolingual in the same language, otherwise it shall be bilingual. The government determines the official languages every ten years according to the result of the population census. A bilingual municipality is declared monolingual when, according to the census, the minority language does not exceed the 6% of the population. However, bilingualism can be maintained on request of the municipal administration. Presently there are 26 monolingual Swedish municipalities (16 of which are on Åland) and 39 bilingual ones (22 with a Swedish majority and 17 with a Finnish majority). The Linguistic Act provides that the national languages are Finnish and Swedish, and everyone has the right to use their own language. This Act also governs the use of Swedish and Finnish in courts of law and State administrative offices. The linguistic rights of the Swedish speakers are guaranteed in practice, but there are some difficulties with the usage of their language in dealing with the authorities. The state is bilingual but due to the small size of the Swedish-speaking population it happens that some civil servants, even in bilingual areas, are monolingual Finnish. Updated (January 2000) The new Finnish Constitution came into force on March 1, 2000, thus derogating the former one, promulgated in 1919. According to this Constitution both Finnish and Swedish are national languages and citizens are guaranteed the right to use them before any administrative or court authority. Regarding the state minority languages, the Constitution guarantees their speakers right to use and develop them. The Sami community will have the right to self-government in linguistic and cultural policy matters in their native areas and their language will be constitutionally protected. Updated (January 2001) The Language Law that is currently valid in Finland is from the year 1922. Even it was updated three times, is old and should be replaced by a new one paying better attention to the individual and his/her linguistic rights. The draft is expected to be finished by the end of May 2001 the new legislation should come into force in 2004. It will also guarantee linguistic equality between Finnish and Swedish (spoken by 6% of the population). Other languages (Sami, Roma) will be taken into consideration in other laws. Since 1919 Constitution both Finnish and Swedish are national languages in Finland. Out of 5 million 300,000 people speak Swedish. There are 40,000 bilingual families in the country. About 15 daily newspapers and 150 specialized magazines are printed in Finland. Television broadcasting in Swedish (Finlands Svenska Television, FST) amounts to about 1/10 of the total national broadcasting time. From autumn 2001 the FST will have its own channel. As for politics, there are 16 Swedish speakers out of the 200-membered Finnish Parliament. The Swedish People's Party holds 11 seats. Updated (September 2001) The draft document was officially published in Finnish and Swedish by the committee in charge of the future languages act in Finland so it can be considered and amended. The next step must be its submission and final approval in the Parliament. The contents of the act will not differ much from the preceding language legislation in force in Finland. Updated (December 2002) A NEW FINNISH LANGUAGE ACT OF 2004 The bill for a new Language Act, prepared by the Finnish Ministry of Justice, was submitted to the Parliament in June this year and, according to the schedule, it should be passed before the elections in March 2003. Therefore, the new act will not enter into force until the beginning of 2004. The bill's text is based on a proposal drafted by the Language Act Commission, which was appointed in 1999 by the Finnish government, and on feedback from several authorities, including all ministries and other central authorities, courts and municipalities, etc. The present, still valid, language act is the one from 1922, although the new Finnish Constitution declares both Finnish and Swedish as national languages and recognizes the rights of Sámi and Romany population. To read the proposal, please see the Appendix B of Finland. Source: Mercator News, December 2002, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm Updated (February 2003) LANGUAGE LAW IN FINLAND - A POTENTIAL MODEL FOR MINORITY LANGUAGES IN THE BALTIC On February 4, 2003 the Finnish Parliament unanimously accepted an updated text of the country's 1922 Language Law. This gives both Swedish and Finnish speaking citizens the right to use their mother tongue in dealings with public institutions. Currently there are about 300,000 Swedish native speakers in Finland. This law, viewed as an extremely positive one, could possibly offer a model for solving the language problems of the Russian speaking minorities in the Baltic States. The debate also touched upon the situation of 800,000 members of the Finnish-speaking minority in Sweden. The Finnish daily "Hufvudstadsbladet" reported that many elderly native Finnish speakers return to Finland because they do not have an access to health care in their mother tongue in Sweden. Source: Eurolang News, Brussels, February 5, 2003, by Hannah McGlue, http://217.136.252.147/webpub/eurolang/pajenn.asp?ID=4078 Updated (September 2003) FINLAND RATIFIES NEW LANGUAGE ACT The new Language Act, which will replace the old one from 1922, was ratified in June 2003. This was a final procedural step, as the Finnish Parliament already voted on the Act on February 11, 2003. The Act will enter into force on January 1, 2004. Like the 1922 Act, it only concerns the constitutionally determined national languages, Finnish and Swedish, while provisions on the use of the Saami language will be included in a separate Act (pursuant to Section 8), which is also intended to come into force on January 2004. The Saami's linguistic rights are currently regulated by Act No. 516/1991 on the Use of the Saami Language before the Authorities, according to which the language may be used before authorities, orally and in writing, and people can receive replies in this language. In practice; however, these rights are hardly practiced. This Act has been amended several times, under Acts No. 975/1995, 1726/1995, 888/1996, and 190/2000. UNILINGUAL OR BILINGUAL AUTHORITIES The Language Act divides authorities in the country into unilingual and bilingual. This linguistic division is of importance both for the language rights of an individual and the language obligations of the authorities. The obligations of a unilingual authority to provide service in both languages are more limited than those of a bilingual authority. Every ten years, according to the information of the Population Data System on a language of each inhabitant of a municipality, the Council of State decides whether the municipality will be unilingual or bilingual. The current Council of State's Decree will expire in 2012. According to this Decree, there are 21 bilingual municipalities with Finnish as the majority language, 23 bilingual municipalities with Swedish as the majority language and 3 municipalities are Swedish-speaking. The rest of the municipalities in Finland, 399 today, are Finnish-speaking. The new Language Act also stipulates that the State Authorities of Central Administration are always bilingual, whereas their units of regional and local administration are unilingual if their administrative districts comprise only municipalities with one language. THE RIGHT OF AN INDIVIDUAL TO USE HIS OR HER OWN LANGUAGE The new Language Act contains exact provisions on the right to use Finnish and Swedish before authorities and courts of law. Everyone shall have the right to use either Finnish or Swedish in their contacts with authorities. Unilingual state authorities shall provide service in both languages, but they can use interpreters or translators in case they do not possess the language skills needed by a client. A unilingual authority uses the language of the administrative district unless otherwise provided in the special legislation. A municipal authority may; however, on request use the other language in connection with certain matters involving the fundamental rights of an individual (taking a child into custody). FLEXIBLE SERVICE IN BOTH LANGUAGES Though state and municipal authorities are obliged by the law to serve always in Finnish and Swedish, it does not mean that all employees must master both languages. In practice the authorities act in the way they consider most appropriate with regard to their duties (different service points provide services in different languages, work shifts where employees who master both languages are always available). If necessary, a unilingual state regional unit can, for instance by phone, contact a central authority unit with sufficient language skills. Making forms available on the web, with instructions how to fill them out and other information is also a way to facilitate the service. The Language Act does not require broadening of the language skills of the civil servants. On the other hand, the language skills of the staff involved in customer service (information and rescue) must be improved. INFORMATION IN BOTH FINNISH AND SWEDISH Bilingual authorities must use Finnish as well as Swedish in their information to the public. It does not have to be equally comprehensive in both languages except its most important part. For example information and directions regarding how to initiate a matter or how to apply for a benefit must be given in both languages. Contact information for the authorities and other basic information on the work of the authorities, different types of notifications and announcements also must be available in both languages. Material containing examination or investigation data do not necessarily have to be translated in full. The authorities must decide to what extent translating is necessary. The information needs of both language groups must be considered. Bills and committee reports were generally drawn up in Finnish, but from now on at least a summary of the report and the bill must be appended to them in Swedish. Summonses to council meetings and minutes of the meetings must be drafted in Finnish and Swedish. In case of emergency or other exceptional situation each Ministry is responsible for the distribution of information essential to life, health and safety of the individuals as well as the property and environment regardless of the language of the municipality or region. AUTHORITIES TO ENSURE LANGUAGE RIGHTS The Language Act includes detailed provisions on how to use the language in administrative matters, criminal cases, civil cases, petitions and before appeal authorities. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for monitoring the enforcement of the Act. In the future, every election period the Council of State will submit to the Parliament a report on the realization of language rights. In addition to Finnish and Swedish the report will discuss also the Saami, Romani and sign language. The Act on the Required Language Proficiency of Civil Servants will be revised at the beginning of next year and it concerns both government and municipal employees. According to this Act, the authorities shall be responsible for maintaining the practical language skills of its employees, e.g. through training. When employing new staff, the authorities shall give regard to the actual language skills required. Source: The Ministry of Justice, News, "The new language act to be ratified," (Explanatory Summary of the Act), June 5, 2003, http://www.om.fi/20005.htm Mercator News, August 2003, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm Updated (October 2003) PUBLIC BROADCASTING Swedes, the largest minority in Finland, make up 5.8 percent of the total population. Despite this small number, Swedish is the second official language in the country. TV programs for the Swedish-speaking population cover some 9 percent of two state-owned TV channels' production. Besides that some TV programs have Swedish subtitles. No special restrictions regarding the language use in broadcasting are envisaged in the legislation. The Act on the Finnish Broadcasting Company (company operating five national television channels and thirteen radio channels) obliges public broadcasters:
To treat in its broadcasting Finnish and Swedish speaking citizens on equal grounds and to produce services in the Sámi, Romany and sign languages as well as, where applicable, also for other language groups in the country. Source: Media Legislation, Minority Issues and Implications for Latvia by Leonid Raihman, January 20, 2003, http://www.policy.hu/raihman/PolicyPaper.htm
Updated (March 2004) GENERAL LEGISLATION AFFECTING MINORITIES AND THEIR LINGUISTIC RIGHTS (as listed by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their first reports on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages)
BROADCASTING LEGISLATION The basic provisions for public broadcasting in Finland are concentrated in three Acts:
The Act on Television and Radio Operations Article 7 It is compulsory to seek a permission from the government in order to operate television or radio broadcasting on radio waves. For other types of television and radio transmission (for example, cable television), such permission is not required. The Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yleisradio, YLE) is allowed to broadcast on wavelengths reserved for the company without a separate permission. The Act on Television and Radio Operations contains no separate provisions for minority language broadcasting. Such provisions are issued by the state-owned and publicly financed public service broadcasting company, YLE. The Act on Yleisradio Oy defines public service provisions of the company. The provisions for services to linguistic minorities are stated in Section 7 (4) as follows: ... to treat in its broadcasting Finnish and Swedish speaking citizens on equal grounds and to produce services in the Sámi, Romany and sign languages as well as, where applicable, also for other language groups in the country The autonomous Åland Islands have a broadcasting arrangement of their own. The 1991 Autonomy Act for Åland gave the Åland Islands the right to grant operating licenses for broadcasting on the Åland Islands. The Provincial Act on Broadcasting on the Åland Islands (Act No 117/1993) gave Åland the right to levy their own license fees. Another Act that is particularly relevant for the Åland Islands is the Act on Broadcasting and Cable Transmission on the Åland Islands (Act No 8/1994). Source: Minority-language Related Broadcasting and Legislation in the OSCE, Program in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP), Center for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford University & Institute for Information Law (IViR) (http://www.ivir.nl/index-english.html), Universiteit van Amsterdam (Study commissioned by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities), April 2003, edited by T. McGonagle (IViR), B. Davis Noll & M. Price (PCMLP), http://www.ivir.nl/publications/mcgonagle/Minority-language%20broadcasting.pdf DOES A NEW FINNISH LANGUAGE ACT MEAN PROGRESS IN LANGUAGE LEGISLATION? A new Finnish Language Act came into force on January 1, 2004 and replaced the 1922 Act. Both acts concern only the constitutionally determined national languages, Finnish and Swedish. The new Act does not entail any new language rights; however, it prescribes that the authorities shall, on their own initiative, ensure the realization of the language rights of individuals in practice. The Language Act refrains from taking a position on the linguistic rights of other languages' speakers residing in Finland or on the right to use the Roma language or sign language. Provisions on the use of the Sámi language are included in a separate Act that came into force at the same time. BACKGROUND OF THE REVISION The most important reason for establishing the Language Act Committee to make a draft for the new Language Act was the new Constitution of Finland, which came into force on March 1, 2000. Finland is presented there as an officially bilingual country where both national languages are equal and the language rights and responsibilities of the authorities are enforced. Considering these new regulations it was necessary to evaluate the changes they would cause in the language legislation. Another reason was that the provisions of the 1922 Act were terse and often difficult to interpret and apply. AUTHORITIES CONCERNED BY THE ACT The Language Act contains exact provisions on the right to use Finnish and Swedish before the authorities and courts. As mentioned above, innovation is that it obliges authorities to take a proactive approach in ensuring the language rights of individuals. As with the old Language Act, the new Act also divides authorities into monolingual or bilingual. This affects both the linguistic rights of an individual and the duties of the authorities. The duty to serve customers in both languages is broader in the bilingual authorities than in the monolingual ones. State-level authorities are always bilingual. A municipality is bilingual according to the ration of its Finnish and Swedish-speaking inhabitants. If a minority constitutes at least eight percent of the population, the municipality is counted as bilingual. Each bilingual authority is obliged to serve in two languages. Not all employees have to know both of them; however, the work should be planned in a way that the services could be given in both Finnish and Swedish, when necessary. With monolingual authorities, in matters involving the fundamental rights of an individual, the party concerned is always entitled to use his or her own language regardless of the language of the municipality. In exceptional situations, for example, in case of emergency, every ministry is responsible for providing essential information in both languages, independently of the language used in the area or municipality. THE LANGUAGE ACT IN PRACTICE According to Kristina Beijar, the secretary of the Language Act Committee and the current language rights secretary of Svenska Folktinget (the Swedish Assembly of Finland) there was a strong will to draft a law that really works. In the revision process, the committee did not compare the new draft to the old Language Act, but it aimed to put the regulations of the Constitution into practice. Two new official positions have been already set up at the Ministry of Justice to give training and advice on the application of the new Language Act. Two thousand officials of the municipalities and the local governmental offices have been trained to apply the law correctly. According to the progress report of a working group set up at the Ministry of Finance, the best way to apply the law efficiently is to inform the public continuously about it and to give advice also at the individual level. The attitude of the officials towards using Swedish is often passive. There have been projects encouraging the Finnish-speaking officials to use Swedish, which are an important way to implement the linguistic rights of the Swedish-speaking minority. Erik Meckwitz, the Secretary General of the Svenska Folktinget, welcomed the act commenting that it had been received "quite well". He added that the majority of Finns had taken it very seriously and they were doing a huge job to respond to it. THE REVISION OF THE SÁMI LANGUAGE ACT The Sámi Language Act, which came into force on January 1, 2004, had been revised as well. One of the positive changes is that new posts will be set up in the Sámi-speaking areas to ensure delivery of public services in the Sámi language. The legal secretary of the Sámi Parliament, Mr Heikki Hyvärinen, sees the main problem in the lack of money given to the authorities to ensure maintenance of the Sámi language skills. The new act allows State officials to take a paid leave of absence to study Sámi. A municipality itself considers the demand for such language study. However, the municipalities do not have enough money to support their officials in studying the Sámi language and this endangers the realization of language rights. Source: Eurolang News, Helsinki (on Dydh Goel Sen Peran), March 5, 2004, by Annika-Elisa Juurikko, http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4449 Updated (May 2004) A NEW BILL ON NATIONAL MATRICULATION EXAM ADOPTED BY THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT On April 15, 2004 the Finnish government adopted the Bill on Revising the Rules for the National Matriculation Exam. The Parliament of Finland planned to vote on the bill at the earliest in May. If the new law comes into power, the Other Official Language Test, which for the majority in Finland was Swedish, will no longer be obligatory in the National Matriculation exam (taken at the end of upper secondary school). The bill had caused a debate on the position of the Swedish language. Some members of the Swedish People's Party (Svenska Folkpartiet (SFP)) considered this issue to be important enough that they wanted to leave the government. However, the party has now informed that this is not going to happen. SFP's objections concerning the revision of the law have been taken into consideration to some extent. A statement has been included in the new bill, in which measures to strengthen the position of Swedish in schools are listed. SFP has accepted this proposal. However, the nature of the measures listed is not binding, because they will be clarified in the future. One of the measures included in the statement is rising of the bonus salaries of those civil servants who can communicate also in Swedish. Furthermore, the possibility to start with Swedish earlier in schools and to increase the amount of the Swedish lessons in general is being considered. The Ministry of Education's assignment to estimate the impact of the voluntary nature of the Other Official Language Test every six years means that the measures should be reappraised if the number of pupils taking the Swedish test in the Matriculation Exam diminished noticeably. Source: Eurolang News, Annika Juurriko, Helsinki, April 16, 2004, www.eurolang.net Updated (February 2005) THE NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT The new Non-Discrimination Act (21/2004) came into force on February 1, 2004 and its purpose is to foster and safeguard equality in the different sectors of society. The Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, ethnic or national origin, nationality, language, religion, belief, opinion, health, disability or sexual orientation. THE NATIONALITY ACT Finland's new Nationality Act (359/2003) entered into force on June 1, 2003 and it replaces the former Nationality Act adopted in 1968. The most significant change in the new Act is that it provides for a wider application of multiple nationality (dual nationality). Finnish citizens will no longer lose their Finnish citizenship when they assume another citizenship. Similarly, foreign nationals, who are granted Finnish citizenship, will not need to give up their former citizenship. The provisions of the Act concerning the loss of citizenship cannot be implemented if the person in question would, as a result of this, become stateless. THE NAMES ACT Provisions related to a person's name are enacted by the Names Act (694/1985). The law stipulates that every Finn shall have a forename1 and a surname. Persons belonging to national minorities are free to use their forenames and surnames based on their language. THE ACT ON YLEISRADIO OY The Act on Yleisradio Oy (the Finnish Broadcasting Company, 1380/1993) lays down provisions on how the company shall address different minorities in broadcasting and in its administration. Section 6 of the Act contains a provision according to which the Board of Directors of a company is elected to represent both language groups (Finnish and Swedish). The law also prescribes that the members of the Board of Directors of YLE should be competent to take care of the interests of both regional and minority languages and the different population groups in the public broadcasting service. After submission of the first Periodic Report of the Government of Finland, the Act on Yleisradio Oy has been amended three times (37/2000; 492/2002 and 396/2003). These amendments, however, have had no effect on the duties of the company in respect of minority languages. THE ALIENS ACT An amendment to Section 18a of the Aliens Act took effect on October 1, 2003. The amendment applies to a certificate of language knowledge that return migrants are required to show, and to a document certifying that they have a residence in Finland. After enforcement of this amendment, the persons arriving in Finland from the former Soviet Union, who apply for a residence permit, are required, among other things, to participate in a re-entry orientation arranged in the sending country and to present a certificate of completion of a language test issued by Finnish authorities. Returning migrants' knowledge of Finnish or Swedish must correspond to the level "A2" of the Common European Framework for Modern Languages, published by the Council of Europe. A person who has passed the test is able to cope with everyday communication situations and he/she understands clear and slow speech and simple texts. Source: Mercator News, January 2005, Report submitted by Finland pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 1 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (received on December 10, 2004), www.coe.int
1 A person may have no more than three forenames. Updated (April 2005) LINGUISTIC RIGHTS DURING CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
According to Section 37 (427/2003) of the Criminal Investigations Act, persons who are interrogated have the right to use their mother tongue during criminal investigations. The authorities responsible for pre-trial investigations shall take care of interpretations or arrange for an interpreter at the Government’s expenses whenever they are not obligated under the Language Act to use the language of the suspect. Persons using other languages than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi are entitled to the services of an interpreter free of charge during all preliminary investigations, unless the authorities take care of the interpretation.
The new Language Act amended the provisions concerning the language use in court proceedings by adding new relevant chapters to the Code of Judicial Procedure (Chapter 4; 425/2003) and the Criminal Procedure Act (Chapter 6a; 426/2003). The language of court proceedings is Finnish or Swedish, and judgments are given in Finnish or Swedish as provided in the Language Act.
In the Sámi Homeland, Sámi can also be used in proceedings, as provided in the Sámi Language Act. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, there is no need to employ Sámi-speaking officials because individual cases have been taken care of with the help of an interpreter.
If it is necessary to use some other language than Finnish or Swedish in court proceedings, both Finnish and Swedish-speaking persons are entitled to interpretation and translation services.
LINGUISTIC RIGHTS OF SWEDISH SPEAKERS IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
Provisions on the rights of the Swedish-speaking population in criminal matters are issued in the new Language Act (Section 14). In addition, related new provisions are laid down in the Criminal Procedure Act and the Criminal Investigations Act. To ensure the implementation of the Finnish and Swedish speakers' linguistic rights, amendments (1202/2003) to the Act on Judicial Appointments (205/2000) were passed and also some other acts were complemented by making provisions for the language skills of court staff members. The Acts entered into force at the beginning of 2004.
Source: The Second Periodic Report on the Application of the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, received on December 10, 2004, http://dev.eurac.edu:8085/mugs2/do/blob.pdf?type=pdf&serial=1109603490781 Updated (August 2010) HELSINKI TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS FOR IMMIGRANTS’ LANGUAGE TESTS
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