Law on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional language

The Law on National and Ethnic Minorities and on the Regional Language was passed by the Polish Parliament in 2005 after the 16 years of its preparation. The introductory part of the law presents the definitions of national and ethnic minorities. It is followed by the presentation of the circumstances in which the language of a minority can be used. The act treats about the development of education and culture of minorities as well as the competence of the institutions regulating the matters of minorities. The last part lists the legal instruments which were changed in order to make the law in force. Working on the law, the data from the universal census of 2002 were used. There was a question about the national or ethnical status. Minorities were given the right to have bilingual inscriptions and to use their language as an additional one in the municipalities where a minority constitutes at least 20% of the total population. Theoretically, there are 51 municipalities which meet the conditions. The Lithuanian minority is able to exercise the right only in the Punskas district. The author presents the situation of the Lithuanian minority in Poland in the context of the discussed law