BRINKEL w Act since 1995. The general principle is that public institutions and the persons working under their authority will use the Dutch lnguage, unless detemined otherwise by law. The Fris ian language may be used verbally in dealing with national public institutions located in Friesland, and both verbally and in written documents in dealing with public institutions, which do not belong to the national govemment These provisions do not apply if the use of the Frisian language would lead to a disproportionate burden on administrative capacity In the same law, provisions are made for the transation in Dutch of documents in the Frisian language, where necessary, for instance when they regard generally binding guidelines or rules, or whenever an inhabitant of Friesland so requests. In meetings of representative organs located in Friesland, everyone may use the Frisian inguage and all that is said is reported in Frisian. In legal proceedings, a party,an interested party ora witness in a legal court residing in Friesland may use Frisian. In penal and adm inistrative proceed ings, the costs of translation will be paid by the state in civil procedures; the costs will either be paid by the state or by one of the parties The Netherlands is member state of the Council of Europe. Apart from the ropean Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, member states of the Council of Europe have adopted the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages(1992). This Charter was ratified by the Netherlands in 1996 Ratification of the charter necessitated the extensive rev ision an extensive administrative agreement (of 1989)between the national government and the province of Friesland in the fields of education, science, culture, media, the judiciary, public adm inistration and care. The revised adm inistrative agreement was signed on 5 June 2001. The conclusion of the agreement is an affirmation of the joint responsibility of the national govemment and the province for the use and promotion of the Frisian language and culture On 5 June 2001, an adm inistrative agreement was signed between the national govemment and the province of Friesland. This agreement entailed a broad range of measures to be undertaken by both the national government and the province in question aimed at protection and promotion of the Frisian language and cultur 1. increase of subsidies to promote the use of Frisian in childcare facilities; 2. increased funding for educational purposes 3. the guaranteeing by the national government of the continued existence of Frisian as a university and higher education subject 4. increased subsidies for cultural purposes, such as theatres and museums; 5. support for and promotion of municipal ordinances regulating the use of Frisian as administrative language, 6. adaptation of the Civil Code allowing the drafting of official texts(such as notarialacts)in Frisian 7. the promotion of international cultural and linguistic re lations with Frisian minorities in germany The rights of the Frisian m inority have been defined in terms of opportunities and support for the use of the Frisian language on the territory of the province of Friesland. No specific groups or minorities as such are addressed in the relevantBRINKEL 4 Law Act since 1995. The general principle is that public institutions and the persons working under their authority will use the Dutch language, unless determined otherwise by law. The Frisian language may be used verbally in dealing with national public institutions located in Friesland, and both verbally and in written documents in dealing with public institutions, which do not belong to the national government. These provisions do not apply if the use of the Frisian language would lead to a disproportionate burden on administrative capacity. In the same law, provisions are made for the translation in Dutch of documents in the Frisian language, where necessary, for instance when they regard generally binding guidelines or rules, or whenever an inhabitant of Friesland so requests. In meetings of representative organs located in Friesland, everyone may use the Frisian language and all that is said is reported in Frisian. In legal proceedings, a party, an interested party or a witness in a legal court residing in Friesland may use Frisian. In penal and administrative proceedings, the costs of translation will be paid by the state, in civil procedures; the costs will either be paid by the state or by one of the parties. The Netherlands is member state of the Council of Europe. Apart from the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, member states of the Council of Europe have adopted the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1992). This Charter was ratified by the Netherlands in 1996. Ratification of the Charter necessitated the extensive revision an extensive administrative agreement (of 1989) between the national government and the province of Friesland in the fields of education, science, culture, media, the judiciary, public administration and care. The revised administrative agreement was signed on 5 June 2001. The conclusion of the agreement is an affirmation of the joint responsibility of the national government and the province for the use and promotion of the Frisian language and culture. On 5 June 2001, an administrative agreement was signed between the national government and the province of Friesland. This agreement entailed a broad range of measures to be undertaken by both the national government and the province in question aimed at protection and promotion of the Frisian language and culture. Some examples of these measures are: 1. increase of subsidies to promote the use of Frisian in childcare facilities; 2. increased funding for educational purposes; 3. the guaranteeing by the national government of the continued existence of Frisian as a university and higher education subject; 4. increased subsidies for cultural purposes, such as theatres and museums; 5. support for and promotion of municipal ordinances regulating the use of Frisian as administrative language; 6. adaptation of the Civil Code allowing the drafting of official texts (such as notarial acts) in Frisian; 7. the promotion of international cultural a nd linguistic relations with Frisian minorities in Germany. The rights of the Frisian minority have been defined in terms of opportunities and support for the use of the Frisian language on the territory of the province of Friesland. No specific groups or minorities as such are addressed in the relevant