A bill tightening language requirements in Ukraine registered in the Rada

A bill providing for a sweeping tightening of requirements on the use of the Ukrainian language has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The document covers amendments to 22 laws at once.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the text of the bill.

The bill was registered on July 15. It is currently under consideration, after which it must pass a reading and receive the president’s signature in order to enter into force.

“The bill aims to strengthen and modernize the legal mechanisms for ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language, to protect citizens’ right to receive information and services in the state language, to eliminate gaps in language legislation, and to harmonize the provisions of individual laws with the Law ‘On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language,'” — the explanatory note to the document states.

Fines and liability

The bill provides for an increase in sanctions for violations of the mandatory use of the state language. For a first violation, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language will be able to issue a warning or impose a fine of between 6,800 and 17,000 hryvnias. For a repeat violation within a year, a fine of between 20,400 and 25,500 hryvnias is proposed. The document also clarifies the procedure for the Commissioner’s review of complaints.

Expanding the circle of obligated persons

The bill proposes to explicitly enshrine in the language law the requirement to know the state language and use it in the performance of official duties for a number of categories of persons. These include members of parliament, heads of state scientific institutions, heads of state cultural institutions, private enforcement officers, insolvency administrators, auditors, as well as other categories defined by the bill.

New rules for business and public spaces

The document contains a number of new requirements for the use of the state language in the business and public environment. In particular, it is proposed that official documents and texts of state authorities, local self-government bodies, state and municipal enterprises, institutions and organizations meet the standards of the state language. The right of an employee to use the Ukrainian language is proposed to be extended to the stage of hiring as well. When selling a computer program without a user interface in the state language, the buyer must be informed of this before the purchase. On signs, information boards, and other texts for general information, the font in any other language must not exceed the font in Ukrainian.

Changes in education and culture

A separate block of amendments concerns the fields of education and culture. The bill proposes to supplement the law with a new article on the use of the state language in the sphere of children’s health improvement and recreation. A ban is envisaged on the use of the state language of the aggressor state in the educational process of extracurricular education institutions. It is also proposed to ban the public performance, public showing, and demonstration of works performed in the state language of the aggressor state, as well as phonograms, videograms, and music videos featuring such performances. Private general secondary education institutions are proposed to be allowed to independently determine the language of the educational process — with the exception of the state language of a state that the Verkhovna Rada has recognized as an aggressor state or an occupying state.

Powers of local authorities

The document proposes to assign to the powers of local councils the creation of conditions for the development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in the relevant territory, as well as the promotion of its popularization. Regional state administrations, for their part, will be required to promote the development of the languages of indigenous peoples and national minorities of Ukraine.