Facts
In August 2003, the Grand Council of the Canton of Graubünden decided to publish Rhaeto-Romanic teaching materials in Rumantsch Grischun and instructed the government to develop a concept for its introduction in schools. On December 21, 2004, the government adopted a rough concept according to which Rumantsch Grischun was to be introduced as the "language of literacy" from the 1st primary grade. On April 24, 2007, the government approved a "pioneer" development phase for the school years 2007/08-2010/11.
However, resistance to Rumantsch Grischun in schools later formed. In the Münstertal and Surselva regions, municipal popular initiatives were launched with the aim of abolishing Rumantsch Grischun and replacing it with the idiom.
On December 5, 2011, the government decided that a change in the school language from Rumantsch Grischun to the idiom or vice versa can generally only take place at the beginning of the 1st primary school grade. Parents of school-age children from the Münstertal and Surselva then filed a complaint against this decision.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the complaints. It concluded that the government's decision does not affect the scope of protection of language freedom under Article 18 of the Federal Constitution.
While language freedom guarantees the right to speak both Rumantsch Grischun and a Rhaeto-Romanic idiom, the state's determination of the language of instruction in schools is permissible and does not constitute an…