LEGAL STATUS OF THE UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BODIES OF INTERWAR HALYCHYNA

Abstract

The study investigates interwar Poland language legislation, which regulated the legal status of the Ukrainian language in local government bodies of Halychyna. The legal status of the Ukrainian language in the region was determined by the Constitutions of 1921 and 1935, laws, normative acts, and orders of ministries to name a few. An impact of the law «On the state language and the language of governance of the state and administrative authorities» of the Polish Diet from July 31, 1924, on the legal status of the Ukrainian language in self-governing bodies, is analyzed. According to the law, the Polish language was recognized as the state and official language in the administrative institutions of Halychyna, while using Ukrainian was permitted only in the administration of local authorities and local government bodies. As investigated, Ukrainian residents were eligible to apply in their native language and receive a response in the same language from local governing bodies only in Lviv, Stanislaviv, and Ternopil voivodships. In contrast, in the territory of Volyn and Polissia, while being allowed to submit statements or oral appeals in their native language to self-governing bodies, they additionally had to express a request to receive an answer in Ukrainian. Most of the provisions of the Constitutions of 1921 and 1935, laws, and orders that regulated the use of the Ukrainian language in local government bodies, were not completely implemented, which was primarily because it was Polish officials who headed the local government bodies in Halychyna, and choosing to provide answers in the state or Ukrainian language, was usually decided in favor of the state one. Keywords Halychyna, Poland, language legislation, legal status, Ukrainian language, local government bodies.