Bilingual Topographical Signs of Different Sizes are Unconstitutional

Abstract

On 24 June 2010, the Austrian Constitutional Court rendered its most recent decision in a series on bilingual topographical signs in the Austrian province of Carinthia in V 9/10-9. The Court held that the difference in size between the German and Slovenian topographical signs for Bleiburg-Pliburg, Drveša vas- Ebersdorf and Žvabek were illegal and unconstitutional. Recall that the Austrian Constitutional Court had already held, on 13 December 2006, that the difference in size between bilingual topographical signs in German and in Slovenian in those places was illegal and unconstitutional and that this had to be resolved. However, this decision was put aside and bilingual topographical signs of different sizes remained in place.

Keywords: minority rights, topographical signs, Slovenian minority in Austria, Austrian State Treaty

JEL Classification: K00, K33