Legal decision

Sejm rejects Silesian minority recognition bill, 2016

A citizens' bill to recognise Silesians as an ethnic minority, signed by 140,000 people, was rejected by the Polish parliament.

What happened

Silesians were not included among the recognised minorities in Poland's 2005 Law on National and Ethnic Minorities, despite outnumbering every legally recognised minority in census self-identification.[1] A 2012 cross-party legislative initiative to recognise Silesian as a regional language was not pursued after a first committee reading.[2]

A 2014 citizens' legislative proposal, signed by around 140,000 people, to recognise Silesians as an ethnic minority and Silesian as a regional language was not debated in the Sejm until October 2016, when it was rejected; further bills were voted down in 2018 and 2020.[3]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: Silesians were not included among the recognised minorities in Poland's 2005 Law on National and Ethnic Minorities, despite outnumbering every legally recognised minority in census self-identification.

  2. 2.

    Claim: A 2012 cross-party legislative initiative to recognise Silesian as a regional language received a first Sejm committee reading in August 2012 but was not pursued further after the committee decided to await a government statement.

  3. 3.

    Claim: A 2014 citizens' legislative proposal, signed by around 140,000 people, to recognise Silesians as an ethnic minority and Silesian as a regional language was not debated in the Sejm until October 2016, when it was rejected; further bills were voted down in 2018 and 2020.

Source note

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