Dimension: 5.2.4 Multilingual service delivery
This dimension concerns the ways in which parliament communicates with and provides information to all the people it represents, regardless of the language(s) they speak. Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. needs to ensure that it is able to communicate inclusively with all groups in society, with language not acting as a barrier to effective communication.
In countries with more than one official language, parliament should ensure that parliamentary information and services are available in all official languages, and that MPs can use official languages in their work.
In addition to official languages, parliament should seek to communicate at least some key information in languages that are widely used in the country. This may include, for example, languages that do not have official-language status but are spoken by large groups of the population, Indigenous languages, and/or languages used by large groups of migrants and refugees.
Aspiring goal
Assess your parliament against this dimension
Assessment criteria
No 1: Official languages
In countries with more than one official language, parliamentary information and services are available in all official languages.
No 2: Languages used by MPs
MPs are able to contribute to parliamentary work in any official language. Simultaneous interpretation between official languages is provided in plenary and committees.
No 3: Other widely used languages
In addition to official languages, parliament endeavours to make at least the most important information and services available in languages that are widely used in the country.
How to complete this assessment
This dimension is assessed against several criteria, each of which should be evaluated separately. For each criterion, select one of the six descriptive grades (Non-existent, Rudimentary, Basic, Good, Very good and Excellent) that best reflects the situation in your parliament, and provide details of the evidence on which this assessment is based.
The evidence for assessment of this dimension could include the following:
- Provisions of the legal framework and/or parliament’s rules of procedures relating to multilingual service delivery
- Statistics on the provision of multilingual services and information
Where relevant, provide additional comments or examples that support the assessment.
Sources and further reading
- Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Recommended Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures (2018).
Get help with this assessment
The assessment of indicators involves diagnosing and considering strengths and weaknesses, i.e. the things parliament is doing well, and the things it could do better or more effectively, taking into account established good practices that are described in the indicators.
Read the assessment guidance to find out what to consider when conducting an assessment against the Indicators. Find out how to prepare, how to set the objectives of the assessment, how to organize the process, and more. Contact the project partners for expert advice.
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