IV        Implementation of the articles of the Convention

IV.IX

Article 11

1. The Parties undertake to recognise that every person belonging to a national minority has the right to use his or her surname (patronym) and first names in the minority language and the right to official recognition of them, according to modalities provided for in their legal system.

2. The Parties undertake to recognise that every person belonging to a national minority has the right to display in his or her minority language signs, inscriptions and other information of a private nature visible to the public.

3. In areas traditionally inhabited by substantial numbers of persons belonging to a national minority, the Parties shall endeavour, in the framework of their legal system, including, where appropriate, agreements with other States, and taking into account their specific conditions, to display traditional local names, street names and other topographical indications intended for the public also in the minority language when there is a sufficient demand for such indications.

National legislation (pursuant to the Article 11 of the FCNM):

Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities

Article 9, 10, 12, 13 (see under Item IV.III National legislation)

The Law on Personal Name

Article 1.

(1) This Law regulates the procedure on establishing personal names of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia. 

(2) Every citizen has the right and is obliged to use his or her personal name.

Article 6.

(1) Every person has the right to change his or her personal name.

(2) Application for changing personal name shall specify the reasons for the requested change, and suggested new name shall justify the request.

(3) Municipal administrative body responsible of general administration in the place of permanent residence of the applicant shall decide on the request for changing personal name.  

Law on Registry Offices 

The Law on Identity Card

Article 8.

Identity Card sheet is printed in Croatian and English languages and Latin script, it is filled out in Croatian language and Latin script only.

When regulated with a special law or international agreements, sheet of Identity card for a member of national minority group, shall be printed in the language of national minority.

Sheet mentioned in row 2 of this Article shall be filled out in Croatian language and Latin script and language and scripts of members of national minorities.

The Law on the Use of the Language and Script of Ethnic Minorities in the Republic of Croatia

Comments on the implementation of the Article 11 of the FCNM:

- The Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities provides for the right to free use of their language and script, privately and in public use and in official use of own language and script, privately and publicly, including the right to use of their signs and symbols and other information in accordance to the law; and the right to use their surname and name in a language which they use, and to its official recognition for them and their children through the entry into registers of births, marriages and deaths and other official documents, in compliance with the regulations of the Republic of Croatia.  In some cases and in some areas, the interpretation of this, exclusively personal right together with the right to official use of minority language and script is limiting the right of a national (Serbian) minority to use their names and surnames in the language they use.

- In the Report of the Republic of Croatia on the Implementation of the Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities from March 2004, it is mentioned that pursuant to the provision of the Constitutional Law on Protection of National Minorities (Article 9 paragraph 1), persons belonging to national minorities have the right to use their own names in the language they use and that, according to the Law on Personal Name, every person is obliged to use his or her names. It is also specified that this right is a strictly personal right and that no one but that person can change it.[1] Some ethnic Serbs who used to exercise this right were deprived of the right to sign the passport application forms in Cyrillic (Serbian) script, and in the same sense to use their own names in written form. Upon the enquiry of the Center for Peace, Legal Advice and Psychosocial Assistance in Vukovar, the Ministry of Interior responded as follows: “...passport application forms are printed in Croatian language and Latin script and, additionally, in English and French and need to be filled, exclusively, in Croatian Language and Latin script. Therefore, the signature of the applicant on the Form 5 and the Form 7 (data to be entered into the passport) should be written in Latin script when filling in the afore-mentioned forms. We would like to emphasise that the Law on Personal Name or any other acts do not regulate the issue of the signature in the script on national minority. We are kindly asking you to contact a body competent for a legal interpretation in reference to the issue.“[2]

-  The Article 9 paragraph 2 of the Constitutional Law mentions that the persons belonging to national minorities are entitled to the ID Card form printed and filled in the language and script they use. The opinion of the Ministry of Interior is that this particular right can be exercised, if request, only by those persons belonging to minorities who live in the areas of local or field units of Self-government in which the language used by the respective minority was, beside the Croatian language, officially introduced as the second official language. But, since the Article 9 paragraph 2 does not refer to the implementation of the provisions of the Law on the Use of Minority Language and Script or to another provision of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities, and that, in some opinions, this personal right of choice should not be related to the number of persons belonging to particular minority in the areas of certain units of local/field Self-government, it is to be concluded that some interpretations are quite opposite to the opinion of the Ministry of Interior.[3] Several applications for bilingual ID cards by ethnic Serbs from Vukovar area, where Serbian language was not introduced as second official language were rejected on the basis of the opinion of the Ministry of Interior.[4] 

- Exercise of the right to giving traditional local names, names of the streets and other topographical signs providing for the general public in minority language when there is adequate interest relates to the exercise of the right to official use of minority language and script (see under the Item IV.VIII). This right is respected in general in units of local self-government where a minority language in the official use. The example of partial exercise of this right is noticed in 4 municipalities of the Vukovar-Sirmium County (municipalities: Trpinja, Borovo, Markusica and Negoslavci) where Serbian language is in official use but there are no bilingual (Croatian and Serbian) traffic signs. Traffic signs with the name of the village are written only in Croatian language and Latin script, there are no traffic signs in Serbian language and Cyrillic script although municipal officials asked for them. Bodies competent to deal with these issues did not meet the requests made for many years by these municipalities, additionally, they removed bilingual signs municipal officials put. 

- In former UNTAES area, the Eastern Slavonia, on August 20, 1997 the Directive on Presentation of Signs of Public Institutions, Enterprises and Other Administrative Bodies whose official signs was issued, upon the completion of reintegration of particular enterprise or institution on the basis of written document were presented in both languages and scripts, Serbian and Croatian.”[5] The Directive was planned to be in force till Transitional Administrator decides otherwise. Some signs were removed after the UNTAES mandate finished during the period of so called Peaceful Reintegration and only those signs that were in Croatian language were left. 

- Zdenka Čuhnil, the representative of Czech and Slovak minorities in Croatian Parliament commented on the law on Use of Minority Language and script as follows: “ Regarding this other law on use of language and scripts, it is also a good law, but, how many units of local self-government incorporated it into their statutes? I’ve already mentioned one bizarre example where a minority has acquired right to use its minority language in one city. But, local authorities put that right to a level of decision to put the welcoming sign to the entrance of that city in both Croatian and a minority language and, in that sense, the use of a minority language in that city finishes right there for them. While current Government is trying to assist in overcoming these entire minority related problems and policies, a lot is collapsing at local and regional levels and I am wondering when will they call for action since the implementation of certain laws, in many ways, depend on them in final instances.’’[6]

- In the opinion of some non-governmental associations from Knin, such as ALTRUIST Split, Knin Office, expression of intolerance against minority language and script (Cyrillic) of Serbian community makes Serbs to use Latin script even in cases when this is traditionally beyond comprehension, for example in notices on religious services, death announcements, tombstones. An example of intolerance: Twenty-year old M.Z. was killed on August 5, 1995, in joint police and military action “Storm”. His body was exhumed from the mass grave in Knin. He was buried in the village where he was born in the beginning of 2004. His parents live in Serbia and Montenegro and, therefore, they printed his death announcement in Cyrillic script in Belgrade. The announcements that were placed in the streets of Knin were destroyed the very same day. Similar announcements if written in Latin sprit are not being removed but, often, some improper remarks are being added on them.