Venice Commission advises Ukraine to reconsider some points of national minorities law

MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - The Venice Commission has recommended that Ukraine reconsider or specify a number of provisions of the law on national minorities (communities), including a recommendation for Ukraine to remove the obligation to translate information on public events into Ukrainian, or at least to reconsider it in the light of the principle of proportionality, Ukrainian media said, citing information circulated by the press service of Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishina.

Some of the recommendations made by the Venice Commission with regard to Ukraine's law on national minorities (communities) are as follows: to remove the obligation to provide for interpretation into Ukrainian of information on public events, or at least to reconsider it in the light of the principle of proportionality, to reconsider the obligations related to publishing books in national minority languages and to bookshops, to ensure more legal certainty regarding the possibility to have official inscriptions and general information translated in a minority language.

The Venice Commission also advised Ukraine to provide in the law itself criteria for the adoption of the methodology, in order to ensure the use of minority languages in contact with administrative authorities in conformity with the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and in line with Ukraine's obligations assumed under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.