Description
The protection and enhancement of local minority language communities is one of the founding reasons for the special Autonomy enjoyed by Trentino.
The special Autonomy was born from the De Gasperi-Grüber agreement (1946) and Trentino is one of the most linguistically and territorially complex provinces, with a multilingual composition that includes three linguistic minorities: the Cimbri, the Mòcheni and the Ladins.
The Italian Constitution, inArticle 6, recognises and protects linguistic minorities, stating that the Republic 'safeguards the language and culture of linguistic minorities'. Although the Constitution does not provide a detailed regulation, this provision has paved the way for the creation of specific laws and policies at regional and provincial level. At the statutory level,Article 2 states that Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol has the possibility of adopting special laws for the protection of linguistic minorities, guaranteeing them specific rights in the educational, cultural and administrative spheres.Article 15 c. 3 states: 'The Province of Trento ensures the allocation of appropriations in an appropriate measure to promote the protection and the cultural, social and economic development of the Ladin population and of the Mòchena and Cimbrian populations residing in its territory, taking into account their size and specific needs.
The national law no. 482/99(Regulations on the protection of historical linguistic minorities) represents one of the most important regulations for linguistic minorities in Italy because it establishes safeguard measures for minority languages, including
1. official recognition of minority languages;
2. teaching of the minority language in schools
3. use of the language in official communications.
This national law applies the principle of equal treatment and recognises the right of all linguistic minorities to use their own language in relations with public bodies, including in local administration and official documentation.
In Trentino, the criterion for the valorisation and protection of minorities is 'territorial', whereas in Alto Adige it is 'personalistic', i.e. based on the declaration of ethnicity.
In the same year, the Autonomous Province of Trento had approved Provincial Law no. 4, repealed by art. 37 of the provincial law no. 6 of 2008 concerning the protection and promotion of local linguistic minorities, which indicated the areas of historical settlement of Trentino's minority communities (art. 3).
In Trentino, Ladin representation in the Provincial Council is guaranteed and the right to appeal before the Regional, Provincial or Municipal Administrative Tribunal of Trento (by regional, provincial or municipal councillors, depending on the nature of the contested acts) against the administrative acts of the bodies and organs of the public administration based in the region, which are considered to be detrimental to the principle of equality between Italian, Ladin, Moldovan and Cimbrian speaking citizens residing in the province.
The same law, in Article 9, provides for a body for the concertation of policies for linguistic minority populations, called the Conference of Minorities.
The Conference defines the programmatic lines for policies on the protection and promotion of minorities, verifying the state of implementation of the sector's regulations, also with a view to identifying new interventions; it expresses a mandatory opinion on the programme of interventions for publishing and information, as well as on the conventions and agreements referred to in Article 23, and expresses a mandatory and binding opinion on the subdivision of the provincial fund for minorities.
Article 24 establishes a provincial fund for the protection of local linguistic minorities, with the aim of financing projects and initiatives to safeguard and promote the ethnic, cultural and linguistic characteristics of the Ladin, Mòchena and Cimbrian populations resident in the territory of the Province of Trento.
By the Provincial Law no. 5 of 7 August 2006 "Educational system of education and training in Trentino", the Province has made explicit the principle of the protection of linguistic minorities also in the educational institutions located in the Ladin, Mòcheno and Cimbrian municipalities. The law introduces special rules for the organisation of the schools in the municipalities of the Valle di Fassa, establishing the Consei general per l'educazion e la formazion, which has the task of identifying the specific educational and training needs of the Ladin community and to concur with the Province in the definition of the policy and planning acts concerning Ladin schools. It also regulates the appointment modalities and the functions of the Ladin school manager ("Sorastant de la Scola Ladina") as well as the activation of the Ladin education and didactic research office. With regard to the Mòcheni and Cimbri people, this law provides for the strengthening of the knowledge of the Mòchena and Cimbri culture and languages, as well as of the German language, to be implemented also in the schools located outside the minority localities, if they are attended by Mòcheni and Cimbri students, in addition to the guarantee of representation in the school governing bodies.
The Provincial Law no. 7 of 23 July 2004, sanctioned the separation of the Mòcheno-Cimbro Institute into two distinct entities: theMòcheno Cultural Institute for the German-speaking populations of the municipalities of Palù del Fersina, Fierozzo and Frassilongo, and the CimbrianCultural Institute for the Cimbrian minority of Luserna. As of today, therefore, there are three cultural institutes for minority populations in our territory (in addition to the two mentioned above, there is also theLadin Cultural Institute 'Majon de Fascegn', already established by law no. 29 of 14 August 1975), instrumental bodies of the Province which, in accordance with their statutes, take care of the promotion and protection of the language and culture of minority populations.
The Legislative Decree No. 178 of 4 April 2006supplementing the implementing regulations of the special statute referred to in Legislative Decree 592/93, provided that in the Ladin localities of Trentino, public acts intended for the general public, individual public acts intended for public use, and identity cards must be drawn up in Italian followed by the text in Ladin. This provision definitively clarified the ambiguity that had been contained in the provision on the use of Ladin in public acts (paragraph 3 of Article 1 of Legislative Decree no. 592 of 16 December 1993), and which had strongly conditioned its application.
The Provincial Law no. 3 of 16 June 2006 (Norme in materia di governo dell'autonomia del Trentino) inArticle 19 lays down special provisions for the territories of the municipalities where the Ladin, Mòchena and Cimbrian language populations are settled and in particular in the territory coinciding with that of the Ladin municipalities the Comun general de Fascia is established. The latter is a local territorial authority with political autonomy whose constitution is one of the municipalities listed in Article 114 of the Constitution; it is, therefore, a peculiarity within the order of the Republic. The Comun general de Fascia implements its own statute that is deliberated by all the municipalities and approved by provincial law, there is direct election of its bodies and a flag as a distinctive symbol.
It is worth quoting verbatim fromArticle 8 of Constitutional Law 1/2017: 'To the Comun general de Fascia, a supra-municipal body established in the territory coinciding with that of the municipalities referred to in Article 48, third paragraph, the Region and the Province of Trento may attribute, transfer or delegate administrative functions, tasks or activities of their own, relevant for the enhancement of the Ladin linguistic minority'.
As is evident, the Comun general de Fascia is not only a local authority but represents in itself a measure for the protection and development of the linguistic minority. In fact, the constitutional legislator, in recognising the Comun general de Fascia as an exponential body of the Ladin community, considered the attribution to it of a particular administrative autonomy to be the fundamental instrument for the enhancement of its identity.
The provision does not list the competences that the Region and the Province can transfer to the Comun general de Fascia, but leaves it up to them to identify them, with the only limitation being that they must be instrumental to the goal of enhancing the Ladin linguistic minority.
Returning to Provincial Law No. 6 of 2008, it can be seen how it is particularly thorough and innovative at a national level, since it provides for anAuthority dedicated to minorities (Article 10).
The Authority is a collegial body made up of three members with a seven-year term without the possibility of reappointment, which operates with full autonomy and independence. Among its various competences, it exercises powers of evaluation, supervision and inspection for the proper implementation of the legislation on the protection and promotion of linguistic minorities.
The activation of the protection instruments provided for by provincial legislation also entailed the activation, at the Presidency of the Provincial Council, of the Service for the Promotion of Local Linguistic Minorities, which has now become the Language Minorities and External Relations Service, with the role of interlocutor with regard to the linguistic minorities present in Trentino. Through an informal, direct and non-bureaucratic approach, the Service takes charge of the needs and expectations of citizens belonging to a linguistic minority, also with regard to the various sectors of the administration. From toponymy to bilingualism, from the school world to cultural protection, minorities in fact express specific needs, to which it is necessary to respond in a targeted manner, with particular attention to the linguistic aspect. The Service also promotes more institutional moments of confrontation with the political representatives of the Ladin, Mòcheni and Cimbrian municipalities. Meetings in the various territories are fundamental, as well as the connection with external realities, especially through the academic world, in order to relate also to what happens outside the provincial borders, to concert new proposals, to take on new challenges. Particularly demanding challenges insofar as it requires constant attention to diversity and the ability, particularly for Ladins, Mòcheni and Cimbrians, to measure themselves against a 'global-local' dimension, where openness to the world is combined with anchoring to one's roots.
From 2024, pursuant toArticle 146 quinquies, paragraph 2, of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Council, there will be a special session of the Council dedicated to linguistic minorities with the participation of representatives of the Ladin, Moorish and Cimbrian population, which will meet annually.
In 2025, at the proposal of the Autonomous Region of Trentino - Alto Adige/Südtirol, the Day of the Ladin, Mòchena and Cimbrian Linguistic Minorities was established to celebrate and make the entire population aware of the value of the language groups.
Research regulations of interest to linguistic minorities
The Service for Linguistic Minorities and External Relations is responsible for the systematic collection of EU, state, regional and provincial legislative acts, as well as case law and doctrinal contributions concerning the protection and promotion of linguistic minorities and takes care of their translation into Ladin and German.
Through the link you will access a page where you can consult all the listed normative acts