Draft bill #10288 of November 24, 2023 

Sponsor: the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine 

Status: sent for review to the Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, National Minorities, and Interethnic Relations 

Who is affected: representatives of national minorities, in particular, schoolchildren and students, the Ministry of Education and Science, educational establishments, local governments, the Commissioner for Human Rights, and national minority centers 

Summary: 

  • the bill clearly defines the concept of a locality where representatives of national minorities traditionally reside (for more than 100 years) and constitute a significant part of its population (over 15%) 
  • in such localities, the executive committee of a village, town, or city council will ensure the right to use the language of the respective national minority 
  • the Commissioner for Human Rights will monitor the situation with the protection of the right to use languages of national minorities. A section on the observance of legislation protecting the right to use languages of national minorities will be a mandatory part of the annual report of the Commissioner 
  • the rules of the use of languages of national minorities in education will change: 
    • private higher education establishments will be allowed to freely choose as language of instruction any of the official languages of the EU. At the same time, the state language will be a separate mandatory discipline 
    • in classes or groups using minority languages that are official EU languages, the right to use the language of the respective national minority in education alongside the state language will be guaranteed 
    • the requirement to gradually increase the number of subjects taught in the state language will not apply to curricula for schoolchildren — representatives of national minorities whose languages are official languages of the EU and who started their education before September 1, 2018 
    • representatives of national minorities will be able to obtain basic and specialized secondary education in the respective national minority language. The exception will be disciplines related to the study of the Ukrainian language and literature, as well as the history of Ukraine, which will be taught in the state language 
  • the functions of the national minorities centers will be clarified. They will be responsible for developing and implementing programs and organize events for representatives of national minorities 
  • TV broadcasters who broadcast in the languages of indigenous people or national minorities, regardless of their territorial category, will have to ensure that at least 30% of their weekly content is in the state language 
  • the procedure for the creation of specialized bookstores aimed to fulfil the rights of national minorities is defined. It will be required for such bookstores to have items necessary to meet the needs of representatives of national minorities, associated with the culture, language, and history of the national minority. The share of such items will have to constitute no less than 50% of the books available in each bookstore 
  • the bill also regulates the distribution of election campaign materials in the languages of national minorities, as well as the distribution of domestic and foreign advertising in the languages of the respective minorities 
  • it will be required for the organizers of an event to provide a synchronous or consecutive translation into the state language if at least 20 people will request such a translation; 
  • provisions about the use of the languages of the national minorities for broadcasters that broadcast in the languages of indigenous peoples and national minorities do not apply to the Russian language. Provisions of the bill will be valid for five years from the day martial law ends or is terminated. 

What is right:  

  • European Commission requirements for the protection of national minority rights will be fulfilled 
  • the authority responsible for ensuring minority rights protection will be designated 
  • the functions of national minorities centers will be clarified. 

What is wrong:  

  • permission for private higher education establishments to choose a language of instruction violates Article 13 of the Constitution: all property rights holders are equal before the law 
  • permission to use a minority language alongside the state language in education violates Article 10 of the Constitution: the state is required to ensure comprehensive development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of public life throughout the entire territory of Ukraine 
  • the state violates the right of schoolchildren — representatives of national minorities to learn the state language at a level necessary for higher education and admission to qualified work. Graduates of national minority schools will have difficulties integrating into society due to inadequate knowledge of the language, which will promote their isolation and push for emigration to countries whose languages they speak 
  • there will be less content in the Ukrainian language on television; 
  • it will be possible to create bookstores with books in Russian as the language of the national minority 
  • permission to conduct election campaigning in the languages of national minorities contradicts the Constitution and the Law on the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as a State Language. It contradicts the principle of free elections because it does not allow the voters to freely form their political will without receiving information about the election participants 
  • it will be allowed to use the Russian language in advertising, public, cultural, and entertainment events in localities where Russians traditionally live (over 100 years) or constitute a significant part of its population (over 15%). 

Background information: on November 8, 2023, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, while presenting the report on EU expansion, recommended the European Council to start negotiations with Ukraine. 

Alternative solution: the bill should be amended to prevent the narrowing of the functioning of the Ukrainian language. 

Additional information: