Linguistics Rights

Introduction:
Linguistic rights are the human and civil rights concerning the individual and collective right to
choose the language or languages for communication in a private or public atmosphere.
Linguistic rights include, among others, the right to one's own language in legal, administrative
and judicial acts, language education, and media in a language understood and freely chosen by
those concerned.
History:
Linguistic rights became more and more prominent throughout the course of history as language
came to be increasingly seen as a part of nationhood. Although policies and legislation involving
language have been in effect in early European history, these were often cases where a language
was being imposed upon people while other languages or dialects were neglected. Most of the
early writings about language rights came from countries where language differences were
linked to national or social divisions. In these places, language rights were important for keeping
peace. However, it wasn’t until the 1900s that language rights were officially recognized in
politics and international agreements. They were first included as a human right in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Individual linguistic rights

●​ Article 2 – all individuals are entitled to the rights declared without discrimination based
on language.
●​ Article 10 – individuals are entitled to a fair trial, and this is generally recognized to involve
the right to an interpreter if an individual does not understand the language used in criminal
court proceedings, or in a criminal accusation. The individual has the right to have the
interpreter translate the proceedings, including court documents.
●​ Article 19 – individuals have the right to freedom of expression, including the right to
choose any language as the medium of expression.
●​ Article 26 – everyone has the right to education, with relevance to the language of medium
of instruction.
Linguistic rights can be applied to the private arena and the public domain.
Linguistic rights in the public domain
The public domain, with respect to language use, can be divided into judicial proceedings and
general use by public officials.
According to Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, individuals have the right
to a fair trial. Therefore, in the name of fairness of judicial proceedings, it is an established
linguistic right of an individual to an interpreter when he or she does not understand the language
used in criminal court proceedings, or in a criminal accusation. The public authorities must either
use the language which the individual understands, or hire an interpreter to translate the
proceedings, including court cases.
General use by public officials can cover matters including public education, public radio and
television broadcasting, the provision of services to the public, and so on. It is often accepted to
be reasonable and justified for public officials to use the language of minorities, to an appropriate
degree and level in their activities, when the numbers and geographic concentration of the
speakers of a minority language are substantial enough. The International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, Article 26, does promise to protect all individuals from discrimination on the
grounds of language. Following that, Article 27 declares, "minorities shall not be denied the
right... to use their own language". The Convention against Discrimination in Education, Article
5, also does declares the rights for minorities to "use or teach their own language".
Collective linguistic rights
Collective linguistic rights are language rights that belong to a group, such as a language
community or a country. These rights include the group's ability to keep their language alive and
pass it on to future generations. However, it can be hard to define language groups because
people within the same group may use the language in different ways, and sometimes it's
difficult to decide what counts as a separate language. Some countries have laws to protect
collective language rights, especially in certain historical and social situations where these rights
are clearly needed.
Negative vs. positive rights
Negative linguistic rights mean the right for the exercise of language without the interference of
the State. Positive linguistic rights require positive action by the State involving the use of public
money, such as public education in a specific language, or state-provided services in a particular
language.
Linguistics Rights in Pakistan
Pakistan uses English (Pakistani English) and Urdu as official languages. Although Urdu serves
as the national language and lingua franca and is understood by most of the population, it is
natively spoken by only 8% of the population. English is not natively used as a first language,
but, for official purposes, about 49% of the population is able to communicate in some form of
English. However, major regional languages like Punjabi (spoken by the majority of the
population), Sindhi, Pashto, Saraiki, Hindko, Balochi, Brahui and Shina have no official status at
the federal level.