Constitutional Formalization of Language in Eastern European Countries

Abstract

The relevance of the issue of the legal status of language in the state is determined by a combination of constitutional and human rights factors. Among the former ones is a statewide formalization of the official language used in all areas of the state activity, while the latter include not only subjective rights related to the use of the native language, but also the directions of state human rights policy in this area. The applied argument for the disclosure of the topic is the frequent violations of people’s subjective rights in Eastern European countries related to the use of their native language at the official state level. At the same time, there are no special constitutional and comparative studies on the legalization of language status, including in this group of countries. In this regard, the purpose of this work is to identify norms in the constitutions of Eastern European countries concerning the status of various types of language in the state, its relations with individual and collective subjects of a social and public nature. The study draws conclusions about the attributive status of language at the state level; the standard linguistic diversity (state, official, native) and the original single formulation (the language used in international communication); the constitutional axiology of language, expressed in the norms devoted to the constitutional system and the legal status of an individual.