April 2004

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CZECH REPUBLIC: TWO BILLS TO PROTECT THE CZECH LANGUAGE (ČTK / RFE/RL Newsline)

April 2004 – Two parliamentary initiatives have been launched by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM): an amendment to a bill on broadcasting aiming to harmonise the Czech media with European Union law, and a bill to amend the Czech Constitution. Both are being debated in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate or upper chamber. As for the first initiative, the said amendment intended to require commercial TV and radio broadcasters, including announcers, advertisers and others, to use correct Czech grammar, but it was rejected by the Senate on 14 April and has now been returned again to the Chamber of Deputies. The main arguments given to oppose such amendment are that the bill does not set any sanctions, making such a provision pointless, and that repeated violations of this amendment could have lead to the broadcast license being revoked. Senators also objected to the amendment with other arguments: they said, for instance, that broadcasters are the ones responsible for “assuring the development of the Czech language and elevating linguistic heritage”, that the provision did not define what is correct grammar, and that such a measure would bring the Senate’s popularity rate even lower than the current 23%. As regards the draft constitutional amendment, also brought in by the KSČM, it was narrowly approved by the Chamber of Deputies in its first reading on 31 March and is expected to face considerable opposition as it makes its way through the parliamentary procedure. According to it, the state would be obliged to “ensure the protection of the Czech language as an inseparable component of state and national identity” but also guarantee that the stipulation does not infringe minority rights.