Language ActText version

Language Act came into force on 1 January 2004.

The new Language Act replaced the old Act of 1922. Like the old Act, the new one only concerns the constitutionally determined national languages: Finnish and Swedish. The new Act does not entail any new language rights; its primary objective is to ensure the realization of these rights in practice.

According to the Constitution, an individual has the right to use his or her own language, Finnish or Swedish, before authorities. The public authorities shall provide for the cultural and societal needs of the Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking populations of the country on an equal basis.

The new Act prescribes that the authorities shall on their own initiative see to the realization of the language rights of individuals without them having to call attention to the rights by themselves.

The Language Act is a general Act determining a minimum level. More detailed provisions on the language rights of a patient or a social welfare client are included in the Acts concerning health care and social welfare. The special legislation also contains more detailed provisions on the language of instruction, consumer protection and road traffic.

Unilingual or bilingual authorities

The Language Act is based on a division of authorities into unilingual and bilingual authorities. The linguistic division is of importance both for the language rights of an individual and for the language obligations of the authorities. The obligations of a unilingual authority to provide service in both languages are more limited than those of a bilingual authority.

The basis of the linguistic division will, as before, be unilingual and bilingual municipalities. The grounds for the division will remain the same. Every ten years the Council of State decides the division on the basis of the information in the Population Data System regarding the language of each inhabitant of the municipality.

The current Council of State Decree will expire in 2012. According to the Decree there are 21 bilingual municipalities with Finnish as the majority language in Finland and 23 bilingual municipalities with Swedish as the majority language. Three municipalities are Swedish-speaking. The rest of the municipalities, 399 today, are Finnish-speaking.

According to the new Language Act the State Authorities of Central Administration are always bilingual, whereas their units of regional and local administration are unilingual if their administrative districts comprise only municipalities with one language. The National Board of Taxation, for example, is bilingual but among its regional units the tax office of Savo-Karelia is unilingual and the tax office of South-Western Finland is bilingual.

The right of the individual to use his or her own language

The new Language Act contains exact provisions on the right to use Finnish and Swedish before authorities and courts of law. Everyone shall have the right to use Finnish or Swedish at their own option in their contacts with authorities.

Unilingual state authorities, too, shall provide service in both languages, but they can use interpreters or translators if they do not possess the language skills needed to give service in the language of the client.

A unilingual authority uses the language of the administrative district unless otherwise provided in the special legislation. A municipal authority may, however, on request use the other language. In connection with certain matters involving the fundamental rights of an individual, such as taking a child into custody, the party concerned is, according to the Language Act, always entitled to use his or her own language regardless of the language of the municipality. If necessary, interpreters can be used.

Flexible service in both languages

State authorities and municipal authorities are thus obliged by law always to serve in both Finnish and Swedish.

This, however, does not mean that all employees must master both languages. In practice the authorities can act in the way they consider most appropriate with regard to their own duties. If, for instance, there are several service points, different service points can provide service in different languages. Another possibility is to organize work shifts and work distribution in such a way that employees who master both languages are always available.

If necessary, a unilingual State regional unit can, for instance by phone, contact a Central Authority unit with sufficient language skills. Making forms available on the web with instructions on how to fill them out and other information is also a way to facilitate the service.

The Language Act does not require that the language skills of the civil servants be broadened to comprise a greater number of duties than before. The language skills of the staff involved in customer service, for example those engaged in information and rescue tasks, must, however, be improved.

Information in both Finnish and Swedish

The new Language Act includes many provisions on information. A bilingual authority, be it a State authority or a municipal authority, must use both Finnish and Swedish in their information to the public. The information does not, however, necessarily have to be equally comprehensive in both languages. The main thing is that the most important information is available in both languages.

For example information and directions regarding how to initiate a matter or how to apply for a benefit must be given in both languages. Contact information for the authorities and other basic information on the work of the authorities as well as different types of notifications and announcements must also be available in both languages.

For instance material containing examination or investigation data do not necessarily have to be translated in full. The authorities must decide to what extent translating is necessary. The information needs of both language groups must be considered.

Government proposals and committee reports are generally drawn up in Finnish, but from now on at least a summary of the report and the bill must be appended to them in Swedish. Summonses to council meetings and minutes of the meetings must be drafted in Finnish and Swedish.

In the case of accidents or emergencies or other exceptional situations each Ministry is responsible for the distribution nationwide of information essential to the life, health and safety of the individual as well as to property and the environment regardless of the language of the municipality or region.

The Language Act is also applicable to public service in the form of purchased services

When State- or municipality-owned companies are responsible in matters pertaining to Authorities the provisions of the Language Act will be applied to them. When tasks of public administration are delegated to others than Authorities, it must be made sure that the service level required by the Language Act will be maintained. If, for instance, a municipality transfers public duties to a private enterprise, the municipality has to make sure that the enterprise undertakes to provide the language service required by law, if this cannot be arranged in some other way.

Authorities to ensure language rights

The Language Act includes detailed provisions on how to decide the language to be used in administrative matters, the application of administrative law, criminal cases, civil cases, petitions and before appeal authorities.

Each Authority shall supervise the observance of the Language Act. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for monitoring the enforcement of the Act.

In the future the Council of State will submit a report to Parliament every election period on the realization of language rights. In addition to Finnish and Swedish the report will discuss at least Sami, Romani and sign language.

The Act on the required language proficiency of civil servants will be revised at the beginning of this year. The new Act concerns both government and municipal employees. According to the Act, the Authorities shall be responsible for maintaining the practical language skills of its employees, e.g. through training. When employing new staff, the Authorities shall pay regard to the actual language skills required in the work.

Provisions on the use of the Sami language are included in a separate Act undergoing revision. The Act came into force at the same time as the Language Act, i.e. on 1 January 2004. The right to use other languages in court is regulated in the special legislation, such as the Code of Judicial Procedure, the legislation regarding the administrative process and the legislation regarding health care and social welfare.

Further information

Paulina Tallroth, Director of Language Affairs, tel. +358 9 1606 7726, e-mail: firstname.surname@om.fi
Reetta Peltonen, Senior Officer, tel. +358 9 1606 7931

Updated on June 30, 2010

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