On Friday June 4, 2021, the National Assembly declared constitutional law supplementing Chapter II of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia with the entry of Slovenian sign language, sign languages of the Hungarian and Italian national minorities and the language of the deafblind. Slovenia has thus become the first country in the world to include the language of the deafblind in its constitution.
With the approval of the Constitutional Commission of the National Assembly and a two-thirds majority vote of all members of the parliament, the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia is amended to read as follows:
»Article 62.a
(Sign language and language of the deafblind)
The free use and development of Slovenian sign language are guaranteed. In the areas of municipalities where Italian and Hungarian are also official languages, the free use of Italian and Hungarian sign language is guaranteed. The use of these languages and the position of their users is governed by law.
The free use and development of the language of the deafblind are regulated by law.«
Upon this important event, we kindly invite you to read the article, which was published on portal 24ur.com and listen to the show Studio at 5 pm, in which the host Petra Medved hosted dr. Simona Gerenčer, secretary of the DLAN Association, dr. Ciril Ribičič, head of the expert group for the incorporation of sign Language into the Constitution, dr. Matjaž Juhart, secretary of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Clubs Association of Slovenia and Tone Petrič, expert associate at ZDGNS.
Slovenia became the first country to include the language of the deafblind in the constitution
