European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

A Council of Europe treaty that protects and promotes regional and minority languages through commitments chosen by participating states and monitored by an expert committee.

Council of Europe: An international organization founded in 1949 to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across Europe. The organization adopted the Charter and oversees its treaty framework.
Regional language: A language traditionally used within a geographically limited area of a state by people who form a numerical minority there. The charter protects languages rooted in particular territories.
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: A Council of Europe treaty setting standards for protecting the rights of people belonging to national minorities. Unlike this charter, it protects minority communities across a wider range of rights.
Education in minority languages: Teaching through or about a language used by a minority within a state. The charter includes commitments on teaching protected languages at several educational levels.
Language revitalization: Efforts to increase the use, transmission, and social standing of a language in decline. The charter’s measures aim to sustain languages threatened by reduced use and transmission.
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages monitoring: The process by which a Council of Europe expert committee reviews states’ implementation of the language charter. Expert review checks whether states meet the commitments they accepted.
Minority language: A language used by a group numerically smaller than the rest of a state’s population and distinct from the official language. The treaty addresses languages used by historically established minority communities.
European Convention on Human Rights: A Council of Europe treaty that protects fundamental rights and freedoms through the European Court of Human Rights. Its general rights guarantees differ from the charter’s language-specific commitments.
Minority languages in public administration: The use of minority languages in dealings with public authorities and in administrative services. The charter can require public bodies to accept or provide services in protected languages.
Language policy: Laws, institutional practices, and public decisions that shape the use and learning of languages. The treaty gives governments a framework for developing language policy.

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