- The law, also known as the Molac Law, was passed in early April by the French Parliament, but was brought to the Constitutional Council by some 60 Members, and has now decided that some articles are unconstitutional.
Articles 4 and 9 have been rejected. Article 4 concerns educational immersion models and 9.ak regulates the use of diachronic signs in civil status documents, such as the letter “n”. According to the Council, these articles of the law are contrary to Article 2 of the Constitution. This determines that French is the language of the French Republic and that the public work and service of the administration must be provided in that language, and that in these areas, citizens cannot protect themselves in the right to use another language.
In its arguments, the Constitutional Council points out that the aim of the Law is not only to teach a regional language, but to use that language as a language of teaching, while at the same time turning it into a language of communication. This law was intended, among other things, to strengthen the model of immersion in public education. But the Council, beyond the demand that has been made to it, has decided that there can be no immersion model either in public or private education.
The law was adopted on 8 April, with a large parliamentary majority, but with an attitude contrary to the French Government. Now the Constitutional Council has also opposed and generated great concern for the future, as it offers a model of immersion in ikastolas, diwanas (Brittany) and calandretas (Occitania).