The dataset contains information on linguistic legal regulations (language acts) in force in states and substates of Europe (Council of Europe), Canada and the US in January 2014. On the one hand, it includes data on legitimating values mentioned by acts (according to a typology based on communication and identity), on their objectives and on the type of restrictions they establish. On the other hand, it includes data referring to the political units that adopt the acts (e.g. political and demolinguistic features). This dataset is used in the doctoral thesis Why Language(s) Matter to People: a theoretical and comparative approach to linguistic justice in western democracies. The case of mixed societies.