A/HRC/7/19/Add.2 page 10 30. The Language Act defines particular requirements for proficiency and use of Estonian language. Although these requirements were reduced after amendments to the Act, they still include a number of areas, including: (i) public servants and employees of state agencies (national or local) “must be able to understand and shall use Estonian at the level which is necessary to perform their service” (§ 5.2); (ii) employees of companies, non-profit associations and sole proprietors in industries that offer goods or services and forward information also must have the adequate level of Estonian to perform their duties “if it is justified in the public interest”. Three levels of proficiency are defined by the Act: basic, intermediate and advanced, which are tested through language proficiency examinations organized by the State. Language requirements for naturalization only demand a basic level of proficiency. The skill requirement must be substantiated and proportionate to the aim pursued by the person. 31. In local governments where the majority of permanent residents belong to a national minority, the language of the national minority may be used alongside Estonian as the internal working language, subject to a request by the municipal council and approval of the Government of the Republic (§ 11). Communications with state agencies and other local governments, however, are required to take place in Estonian (§ 12). This same principle is valid for cultural autonomy bodies of national minorities. 32. Supervision of the Language Act is carried out by the Language Inspectorate, a governmental body created in 1991. The Act further establishes that violations to its provisions are subject to administrative liability. In his meeting with the Director of the Language Inspectorate, the Special Rapporteur was informed that the Inspectorate focuses its supervision activities primarily in the public sector, but also monitors private companies that have direct contact with customers. He further added that the main objective of the Inspectorate is not to prohibit the usage of foreign languages, but rather to guarantee the usage of Estonian. In particular, the main motivation behind the creation of the Language Inspectorate was to restore the position of Estonian language in society, reversing the Soviet policy that was centred on the need to promote the Russian language among Estonians. 33. The Director of the Language Inspectorate also explained that the Inspectorate regularly visits public and private institutions in order to assess whether the language level of employees is compatible with the requirements of their position. Whenever a person who works in a position that demands a certain level of proficiency in Estonian fails to meet that requirement, the State covers the costs of the language courses that are required to the person to be reassessed. Language oversight in regular establishments is in the vast majority of cases pre-scheduled with one moth in advance (one year for schools). Only in limited cases can the oversight take place without previous warning. 4. Law on cultural autonomy of national minorities 34. The particular cultural autonomy rights of national minorities are established by the Law on Cultural Autonomy of National Minorities. In the Law, national minorities are defined as the citizens of Estonia who “reside on the territory of Estonia”, “maintain longstanding, firm and lasting ties with Estonia”, “are distinct from Estonians on the basis of their ethnic, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics” and “are motivated by a concern to preserve together their cultural traditions, their religion or their language which constitute the basis of their common identity”. The Law further establishes that “national minority cultural autonomy may be