Status
Ladin is officially recognised in Trentino and South Tyrol by provincial and national law. Italy signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1991, but has not ratified it so far. The charter calls for minority rights to be respected and minority languages, to which Ladin belongs, to be appropriately protected and promoted. Nevertheless starting in the 1990s, various laws and regulations have been passed by the Italian parliament and provincial assembly that put the Ladin language and culture under protection. A cultural institute was founded by decree whose purpose is to safeguard and educate in the language and culture. School curricula were adapted in order to teach in Ladin, and street signs are being changed to bilingual.
Ladin is recognized as a protected language also in the Province of Belluno in Veneto region according to State Law 482/1999, but in comparison with South Tyrol and Trentino the wishes of the Ladins there have barely been addressed by the regional government. In a popular referendum in October 2007, the inhabitants of Cortina d'Ampezzo overwhelmingly voted to leave Veneto and return to South Tyrol. The redrawing of the provincial borders would see a return of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Livinallongo del Col di Lana and Colle Santa Lucia to South Tyrol, to which they have traditionally belonged when they were still a part of the County of Tyrol or the Bishopric of Brixen.
Although the Ladin communities are nowadays spread out over three neighbouring regions, the Union Generala di Ladins dles Dolomites is asking that they be reunited. The Ladin Autonomist Union and the Fassa party run on a Ladin list and have sought more rights and autonomy for Ladin speakers. Ladins are also guaranteed political representations in the assemblies of Trentino and South Tyrol due to a reserved seats system.
In South Tyrol, in order to reach a fair allocation of jobs in public service, a system called "ethnic proportion" was established in the 1970s. Every ten years, when the general census of population takes place, each citizen has to declare which linguistic group they belong or want to be aggregated to. According to the results it is decided how many potential positions in public service are allocated for each linguistic group. This has enabled Ladins to theoretically receive guaranteed representation in the South Tyrolean civil service according to their numbers.
Read more about this topic: Ladin Language
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