A Minority's Right to Its Language A Study on the Latvian State Language Law and Its Conformity with International Human Rights Standards

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the restored Baltic States have been struggling with the consequences of half a century of Soviet rule. One of the problems has been the substantial demographic change. As a result of this, when the pressure from Moscow relieved and after the independence, some laws were adopted for the purpose of strengthening the conditions of the languages in these countries and make it more difficult to become a citizen. The laws have been criticised for containing discriminating elements against the minorities living in these countries. In 1991 the Latvian State Language Law was adopted. The law confirms the position of the Latvian language as state language in Latvia and regulates the use of language in public and private sphere. This study goes into detail of the Latvian language law to see if it corresponds with international human rights standards and gives the minorities in Latvia the protection and rights they are entitled to. The first part of the study contains an attempt to elucidate what more exactly lies in the meaning of a minority's right to its language