Government report on application of language legislation 2021

• Other Authors: Lindholm, Linda, Ministry of Justice, Finland
• Format: Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Finnish Government 2021
• Subjects: linguistic rights; Language Act; linguistic population groups; language impacts; linguistic minorities; Sámi
• Online Access: https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/163710

The Government report on the application of language legislation is a follow-up report that is submitted to Parliament once every parliamentary term. There are regulations on the language report in the Language Act (423/2003) and the Government Decree on the Enforcement of the Language Act (Valtioneuvoston asetus kielilain täytäntöönpanosta 433/2004). As laid down in the Government Decree, the report deals not only with Finnish and Swedish but also with at least Sámi, Romani and sign language, as well as the linguistic conditions in the country at a more general level whenever necessary. The report must discuss the application of language legislation, the implementation of linguistic rights, the language relations in the country, as well as the development as regards to Finnish and Swedish. The previous reports were published in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2017. The Government report on the application of language legislation 2021 contains up-to-date information about the language situation in Finland, structures supporting linguistic rights, the impact of administrative changes on language groups and experiences of the implementation of linguistic rights when dealing with the authorities. Key themes include digitalisation and the implementation of linguistic rights in education, the police, rescue services and emergency response centre services. The report also covers the language service obligation of private companies pursuant to section 25 of the Language Act. At the end of the report, there is a summary of the experiences gained during the monitoring period on the application of language legislation and the current language situation in Finland.