II. The court held the lower payments to the Gurkhas to be irrational. This conclusion led to compensation payments of £10,000 to each of the Gurkhas affected. Approaches to linguistic minorities Language may form a barrier to full participation in armed forces for members of some minority groups who speak a language other than the official language. Box 12.8 below shows the various approaches to this issue taken in several OSCE participating States. 219 Box 12.8 Approaches to Minority Languages in Selected Countries219 Austria Canada Czech Republic Finland Latvia Lithuania Slovakia Ukraine Servicemen can freely communicate in their own language. With respect to the conscription procedure and testing for the ability to fulfil military service, linguistic minorities are allowed to use their own (recognized minority) language. All other communication within the armed forces has to be in the official language, which, according to Austrian constitutional law, is German. Conversations with peers are in the language of choice. However, in military units designated as unilingual, mainly located in unilingual regions, as defined by the Treasury Board Secretariat (both French- and English-language units are earmarked within the Canadian Forces), the language of work is mandated. In units designated as bilingual (mainly in bilingual regions), either language can be used freely. The official language for dealing with administrative authorities in the Czech Republic, including superiors in the armed forces, is Czech; Slovak is not considered equivalent. It is not permissible to use other languages for communication in the armed forces. The command language is Finnish (one unit is Swedish-speaking). In civilian affairs, people are free to choose their language. According to the Official Language Law, only the official language of Latvia, Latvian, shall be used within the units of the National Armed Forces. However, this restriction is applicable only during the performance of official duties. The official language must be spoken during duty hours. According to Art. 6, para. 1, of the Constitution, Slovak is the official language of Slovakia. According to Art. 3.2 of Act No. 270/1995 of the Collection of Laws of the Slovak Republic, members of the Armed Forces must use the official language in official communication. Only the state language may be used in official business. Where there are numerically significant language differences within a state, the creation of distinct units recognizing minority differences can be an effective solution to the underrepresentation of minority language groups. For example, the armed forces in Switzerland have a multi-tier structure, with units organized along cantonal and linguistic lines as far as possible. Specialized troops, however, may form multilingual units. Multilingualism is compulsory for Ministry of Defence staff and the officer corps (see Box 12.9). Belgium and Canada have established a dual military structure in response to the Belgian Flemish and Canadian Francophone preferences to be commanded in their own language. In Canada, the introduction of such units has had several effects: • Francophone officers are advantaged in such units because of their better communication skills in their native language; • Francophone officers in French-language units are more attuned to the cultural peculiarities of their Francophone soldiers and therefore are more successful leaders, and are promoted as rapidly as (if not more so than) their Anglophone colleagues in Englishspeaking units; • The creation of French-speaking units throughout the armed forces results in a requirement for colonels, generals, and staff officers to be bilingual, regardless of promotion quotas.220 219  ODIHR-DCAF questionnaire, questions 78 and 79. 220  “Multiethnic Armed Forces”, op. cit., note 211. 110 Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel