ABSTRACT
Europe is at the forefront of developments in the area of language or minority rights. European countries operate on the basis of shared, common values. These comprise the rule of law, democracy, human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, tolerance and a pluralistic society. They are values that are widely accepted from Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) documents to Council of Europe treaties, as well as part of the political criteria for admission of new states to the European Union. Minorities have numerous rights in relation to language. This chapter makes the link between language rights and human rights. There is often the mistaken view that the rights of minorities, or language rights, are part of a new generation of rights, or are collective in nature. There are a number of basic human rights and freedoms that affect the issue of language preferences and use by members of a minority or by the State.
