Belgium has three official languages and four language areas. Does this seem complicated? In practice it is relatively straightforward. Restrictive and oppressive? Most certainly not: the respect for one's own language, after all, by no means has to exclude openness to other languages and cultures.
When Belgium was founded in 1830 it had a Constitution which was quite progressive in its time, and which guaranteed a number of fundamental rights and freedoms. One of these was the individual's linguistic freedom (article 30 of the Belgian Constitution states: The use of languages current in Belgium is optional; only the law can rule on this matter, and only for acts of the public authorities and for legal matters).In practice this linguistic freedom led to an almost complete Frenchification of public life. Most civil servants and judges did not speak Dutch and laws were only published in French. In 1932 language legislation was fully founded on the territoriality principle. Henceforth the rule the regional language is the administrative language also became applicable in Flanders. And yet transitional measures remained in force for the French-speaking population.
An important turning point in the recognition of Dutch was the establishment of the linguistic boundary in the Sixties and the language laws that were based upon it.
Four language areas, three official languages
The linguistic boundary was officially established by law in 1962. As a result Belgium is subdivided into four language areas: the Dutch-language area, the French-language area, the German-language area and the bilingual Dutch-French area (the 19 municipalities of Brussels). Each municipality in Belgium unambiguously is part of only one of the four language areas. This subdivision was incorporated in the Constitution in 1970. As a result the so-called territoriality principle was also constitutionally enshrined: the principle that one language is the official language in a defined territory (or in Brussels: two languages). The term language area thus also has a legal significance. It established the fact that the regional language has to be used in certain matters.
The territoriality principle is not detrimental to the constitutional principle of linguistic freedom. It can only be restricted for a limited number of domains:
- public authority and the administration;
- court cases;
- education in institutions that are established, recognized or funded by the government;
- social relations (the relations between employers and their employees) and the official documents that companies have to use.
Linguistic freedom can be regulated in these domains by law or act.
Since the 1960s the Belgian state has undergone some radical changes. Gradually the Belgian unitary state was converted into a federal state with two types of federated entities, the regions and the communities. This also had consequences for language legislation, which up until then had been governed at national level and which was applicable for the entire Belgian territory. As a result the Flemish and the French-speaking Communities may regulate language use in most of the aforementioned domains in their own language area by means of their own language legislation (acts). Thanks to this autonomy they can introduce their own accents and refine or even replace the existing national laws. The competences of the German-language Community are more limited.
Language in administrative affairs
Legislation as regards language in administrative affairs among others establishes in which language (or languages) the government [1] has to communicate with its citizens and sometimes also vice versa. (enclose attachment).
The laws of 8 August 1962 and 2 August 1963 established a number of fundamental rules with regard to this. In 1966 these two language acts were converted into the Language Act on Administrative Affairs, which applies throughout Belgium.
Companies and persons that act in the public interest and on behalf of the government have to comply with the language laws. The government cannot escape the language laws by using private companies for given contracts.
Basic principle
According to the constitutional principle of territoriality the government in its relations with a citizen can only use the official language of the area in which the citizen resides. The language that has to be used thus does not depend on where the government is established but on the place where said government exercises its competences.
The facility arrangement liberalises the territoriality principle. Thus the French speakers tend to consider it as a step towards the adhesion of these municipalities to bilingual Brussels. This view is not consistent with the Constitution.The Belgian constitution only recognizes one bilingual region: the nineteen municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region. The six municipalities with language facilities in the Flemish periphery are thus an integral part of the Dutch-language area. Since the constitutional reform of 1993 these municipalities, moreover, are part of the federated entity known as Flanders. Measures imposed by the Flemish authorities to apply language legislation thus are also applicable to the municipalities with language facilities in the Flemish periphery.
Moreover the language facilities only apply to individual inhabitants, not to the directors of these municipalities with language facilities. According to the law on administrative language these Flemish municipalities with language facilities can only be governed in Dutch. All meetings of the municipal council and of the mayor and aldermen have to be held in Dutch.
Nuances
In a number of situations the government is obliged to deviate from the basic rules or has the ability to do so. The principle is that the use of another language shall not lead to systematic multilingualism. The regional language continues to be the official language.
Sanctions and control
Civil servants and officials that circumvent the language law or choose not to apply it can receive a disciplinary punishment.
If a department uses the wrong language, then the actions in this language can be declared null. The action is then deemed to have never existed and no consequences shall be attached to it.
As is the case with other laws, language laws can be enforced by the courts or by the government. A special category of administrative decisions, the administrative acts, can be appealed with the Council of State. It has the power to destroy such administrative acts. Next to this a number of bodies have been created which are exclusively competent for language legislation.
The Permanent Committee for Linguistic Control examines all complaints about the application of language legislation pertaining to administrative acts for the whole of Belgium. After examining a complaint it then formulates an advisory opinion. These advisory opinions have great moral authority but are not legally binding. If the offender persists then the Permanent Committee has the option of taking the case to court or appealing the case with the Council of State.
In the nineteen Brussels municipalities the Vice-Governor of the Brussels-Capital district, in addition to the aforementioned committee, also ensures that all departments comply with the language laws. In the municipalities with language facilities in the Flemish periphery the Deputy to the Governor of the Province of Flemish Brabant ensures compliance with the language laws.
Language use in business
In business the basic principle is the freedom of language: employees and businesses can use the language of their choice. But there are rules for official documents and for language use within the company.
Article 52 of the Language Act on Administrative Affairs (1966) requires companies to use the regional language for some matters. Initially this provision only applied to all businesses with an operational office in Belgium.
In 1973 the Flemish Government developed its own regulations, which replace the provision of the Language Act on Administrative Affairs in part. Since then the September Decree has been applicable to all businesses with an operational office in the homogenous Dutch language region. In Brussels and in the municipalities with language facilities Article 52 of the Language Act on administrative affairs remains applicable.
In the homogenous Dutch-language area businesses have to use Dutch for all verbal and written communication with their employees and for all official documents.
- Official documents are all documents required by the government, including the mandatory parts of an invoice, pay slips, employment contracts, articles of association or the minutes of the shareholders’ meeting
- Verbal and written communication with employees includes warning signs, notices and manuals.
In principle a court can issue administrative penalties and even criminal penalties for any violations of language legislation in businesses. The supervisory officers of the Department of the Labour Inspectorate also have extensive competences. Documents or transactions in the wrong language have to be declared null by a judge.
In the municipalities with language facilities only commercial businesses are subject to the language legislation for businesses. Naturally the company’s operational office has to be located in one of the municipalities with language facilities. This operational office is the office or store where the employee effectively works and not the headquarters of the company.
The basic principle is threefold:
- written communication with personnel in principle is in Dutch. As is the case in Brussels the employer can append a translation to the original documents if this can be justified based on the composition of the workforce
- Official documents that are not destined for the employee, such as articles of association, the mandatory parts of invoices or annual reports, have to be in Dutch
- There are no rules for verbal communication with employees
The court controls the application of language legislation in business. Next to this there is also the Permanent Committee for Linguistic Control.
Language use in education
Language use in education is not entirely free. The Educational Language Act of 1963 prescribes in which language general subjects need to be taught in nursery, primary and secondary education. It applies to schools
[2] in Brussels, the municipalities with language facilities and the homogenous Dutch language area.
The language for education in the homogenous Dutch language area is Dutch, except for all education of foreign languages. Brussels does not have bilingual education: an (official, recognized or subsidized) school teaches either in French or in Dutch.
In the municipalities with language facilities the language for education is Dutch. There is a different arrangement for nursery and for primary education.
Schools are regularly audited to verify whether they comply with all legal and regulatory provisions and quality standards. In the pedagogical inspection the Inspectorate for Primary Education and the Inspectorate for Secondary Education of the Ministry of the Flemish Community also verify compliance with educational language legislation. The Language Inspectorate, a federal institution, is responsible for verifying the language system of pupils.
Language use in court proceedings
The Act of 17 August 1873 constitutes one of the first language laws in Belgium and regulated language use in criminal proceedings. Dutch was introduced as the principal language for criminal justice in the Flemish provinces although French could be used with the consent of the accused. Previously judges could refuse to understand Dutch with a reference to the freedom of language. The language use in all courts was regulated with the Act of 15 June 1935.
Rules governing language use in court cases in Belgium are based on the following principles:
- monolingual court documents and justice;
- principle of territoriality for justice in the Dutch and French language areas;
- personality principle for justice in the Brussels-Capital district and in the municipalities in the periphery;
- freedom of language use for citizens;- mandatory nature of language legislation.
All these principles ensure that language legislation in court cases ties in perfectly with the whole logic of the distribution of the language areas and that it is strictly enforced.
The monolingual nature of justice means that each trial, from the summons to the implementation of the judgment, can only be held in one language. It is the language of the seat of the court, and thus the court’s territorial jurisdiction, which determines the language of justice. Moreover parties can jointly agree to refer the case to a court in another language area. In criminal cases the accused and the witnesses can always use the language of their choice.
The territoriality principle of justice is nuanced. In the Brussels-Capital district claims can be in one of both languages. In the municipalities in the periphery, and in the police courts of Halle and Vilvoorde, a request can be submitted prior to the start of the trial to refer the case to a French-speaking judge in Brussels. In the linguistic boundary municipalities of Voeren and Komen-Waasten and in the German-language area there is also the option of changing the language of justice. The judge has to consent to this.
[1] The ‘government’ does not only refer to the government services themselves (such as municipal authorities, ministries or official bodies) but to all public services.
[2] ‘Schools’ refer to the schools of the official system and of the free system which are recognized or subsidized by the government. Schools that do not comply with language laws shall not receive government funding. Different rules apply to international schools.
Our
database contains many more documents. Most of them are only available in Dutch. However, you can enter English search terms.
