In its opinion adopted on Friday, the Venice Commission has called on the Macedonian authorities to re-examine the Law on the Use of Languages and abandon provisions on bilingualism in judicial proceedings.

According to a statement issued after Friday’s meeting in Venice, Council of Europe legal experts point out that compared to 2008 legislation, the new law significantly expands the use of the Albanian language and in many respects exceeds the European standards set by the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

The Venice Commission, while welcoming the authorities’ readiness to improve the linguistic status of communities, believes that in certain areas the new law may go too far by imposing unrealistic legal obligations on public institutions, especially regarding the use of Albanian language in judicial proceedings, accompanied by severe sanctions in case of non-compliance and possibility to change court decisions, if there is a lack of translation and interpretation during the procedure.

According to the Venice Commission’s opinion, this approach could significantly slow down the functioning of the entire judiciary, risking serious violations of the right to a fair trial guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Commission further notes that the language law is not precise which provisions apply only to Albanian and which also apply to other languages of the communities.

The Venice Commission gave several recommendations to the Macedonian authorities, in particular to abandon provisions on bilingualism in judicial proceedings. It also recommends that the obligation to use the Albanian language in internal and inter-institutional communication between civil servants be restricted to written official communications or postponed until the proper implementation of that provision becomes realistic.

As regards the implementation of monetary sanctions, the Council of Europe’s legal experts point out that they should be postponed until the law is amended to provide sufficient legal clarity, reduce penalties, and introduce an element of error and the principle of proportionality.

Authorities are also invited to conduct an analysis of the implementation of the 2008 law and assess the impact of the new language law on budget and human resources.