06 April 2021, Tuesday, 18:25 180

Court Cancels Regional Status Of Russian Language In Zaporizhia Region

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The court canceled the regional status of the Russian language in Zaporizhia region.

Ukrainian News Agency learned this from a statement of the press service of the Ombudsperson for the Protection of the State Language.

"On March 24, the Zaporizhia Regional Administrative Court, having satisfied the claim of the deputy head of the Zaporizhia Regional Prosecutor's Office, declared illegal and invalid the decision of the Regional Council dated August 16, 2012 No. 2 "On Measures Aimed at Using Regional or Minority Languages Provided by the Law "On the Foundations of State Language Policy", on the territory of Zaporizhia region," says the corresponding decision of the court, which comes into force on April 23.

According to Part 7 of Article 1 of the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language", which entered into force on July 16, 2019, the status of the Ukrainian language as the only state language provides for the obligatory use of it throughout Ukraine in the exercise of powers by state authorities and local authorities.

All bodies of state power and local self-government must, within six months from the date of entry into force of this law, ensure that their normative acts are brought into conformity with it.

The Ombudsperson for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremin noted that in this regard, back in November 2020, he appealed to the newly elected members of a number of local councils, in whose territory decisions on the functioning of regional languages were still in force, with a call to cancel such decisions, and sent a letter to the Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova regarding ensuring the cancellation of unlawful decisions in court.

So, in particular, in late 2020 and in early 2021, decisions of local governments on the functioning of regional languages in Zakarpattia region, decisions of the Rubezhanskyi and Starobelskyi city councils of Luhansk region have already been canceled, the status of a regional language has also been canceled in Odesa.

Kremin also called on local councils at all levels to step up work on the development and adoption of regional programs for the development and functioning of the Ukrainian language.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in December 2020, the Odesa Regional Administrative Court canceled the regional status of the Russian language in Odesa region.