Multilingual and bilingual communication in law and power: access, identity and trust

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
Joxerramon Bengoetxea
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Salient Feature ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Linguistic Identity ◽  
User Perspective ◽  
Special Adaptation ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Eu

Abstract This article develops a user perspective, applied both to law as discourse and normative practical reason - law, religion - and to linguistic communication. In multilingual contexts, this perspective requires special adaptation, because the communities of users may use different languages for the creation of new norms, and for their judicial interpretation and application. The possibilities for contesting meaning are enhanced where multilingual normative communication is involved. Important consequences then follow as regards legislative drafting, statutory interpretation and multilingual contexts of conflict-resolution. The EU is the classical multilingual institutional setting where these ideas are tested. Although in the EU only those languages that are official or co-official at the level of the Member State are immediately recognised as official languages, the EU operates as a genuine multilingual system of law, the most impressive official multilingualism in the world. Discourses exploring the EU’s political identity tend to see this multilingualism as an obstacle to the development of a demos rather than a salient feature of its multicultural and federal-like Constitution. This paradox is compared to the linguistic identity of the Basque Country, which is analysed in its different territories from the legal and sociolinguistic perspectives, where the legal status of Basque is subordinated to the official language regime of France and Spain.

El nuevo régimen jurídico de las lenguas oficiales en la Ley de Instituciones Locales de Euskadi: la evaluación del impacto lingüístico

2017 ◽  
pp. 129-172
Author(s):  
Iñigo URRUTIA LIBARONA
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Local Institutions ◽  
Legal Duty ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Law

jaso berri den euskararen erregimen juridikoa. Hizkuntzen erabilerari dagokionez Legeak berrikuntza nabarmenak ezarri ditu, udalerrietan eta gainerako toki-erakundeetan aplikagarriak izango direlarik. Lan honetan ezarpen berri horiek ofizialtasun bikoitzari buruzko sistema konstituzionalarekin bateragarria ote diren aztertzen da. Halaber, plangintza eta proiektuen eragin linguistikoa ebaluatzeko bete beharra garatzeko proposamenak jaso dira. RESUMEN: El estudio analiza el régimen jurídico de las lenguas oficiales contenido en la Ley de Instituciones Locales de Euskadi. La norma ha introducido novedades importantes en cuanto al régimen de uso de las lenguas por parte de los municipios y demás entidades locales. Este trabajo analiza la adecuación del nuevo régimen lingüístico al marco constitucional de doble oficialidad lingüística. Asimismo, se proponen ciertas líneas de avance para desarrollar la previsión relativa a la evaluación del impacto lingüístico de planes y proyectos incluida en la nueva Ley. ABSTRACT: This study analyzes the legal status of the official languages contained in the Law on Local Institutions of the Basque Country. The new Law has introduced a renovate scheme regarding the use of languages by localadministrations. This paper analyzes the compliance of this new language regime with the constitutional framework on official languages in Spain. Furthermore, some lines of improvement are proposed to develop the provision on the legal duty to assess the «linguistic impact of plans and projects».

scholarly journals Quo Vadis English? The Post-Brexit Position of English as a Working Language of the EU

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kużelewska
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Initial Assumption ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Quo Vadis ◽  
The Eu

Abstract “Brexit” as a word entered the European language’s scene eight years ago as a term describing what seemed as a surrealistic scenario for the British. Since then, it has become the ‘political word of 2016,’ paved its way to the Oxford English Dictionary, and globally into the computer dictionaries which no longer underline it in red as an unknown term. ‘Brexit,’ as a political campaign motto, has also transformed into a realistic political strategy and eventually into a complicated, exhausting, dividing, yet finalized process. By the time it was accomplished, everyone in Europe was tired of it, but tiredness did not change the fact that Brexit was an historical period of turmoil of an unprecedented nature. Brexit occurred on a multitude of dimensions, including the EU language policy dimension. For the past 20 years, English has been by far the most commonly used language in the Union, not only as one of the 24 official languages of the Member States, but as a working language of all the institutions, all negotiations, and all political debates. This contribution aims to analyse the legal status and the practical dimension of the European Union working languages and to explore the position of the English language among them—both presently and with possible scenarios in the future Union, without the United Kingdom as the biggest English-speaking Member State. The initial assumption states that the geopolitical weight of the English language will diminish even if the Irish and Maltese will hold the language’s position as an official language of the Union. In mathematical terms, there will be more native speakers in Hungarian or Slovak than in English. In political terms, Germany and France will have a chance to improve their influences by advocating for more efficient use of their languages. ‘Quo vadis English?’ seems a timely question to ask.

scholarly journals Differences in Immaterial Details: Dimensional Conversion and Its Implications for Protecting Digital Designs Under EU Design Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-168
Author(s):  
Mikko Antikainen
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
3D Design ◽  
Gaming Industry ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
More Care ◽  
Design Law ◽  
Physical Shape ◽  
Limitations And Exceptions ◽  
Scope Of Protection ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe paper considers three main questions: the legal status of digital designs from the perspective of EU design law, whether the protection is tied to the reproduction of physical products, and whether the scope of protection covers dimensional conversion such as using a 3D design in 2D form or vice versa. There are two sets of views regarding dimensional conversion: the “abstract” and the “concrete” view. These two different attitudes towards the scope of protection influence the manner in which the protectability of digital designs is assessed. In the “abstract” protection, it would not matter whether a product only exists as a digital image and not as a physical shape. In the “concrete” view, the protection of digital designs is more problematic, as the scope of protection is often tied to the reproduction of an actual physical product. The paper argues that, under CJEU jurisprudence and EUIPO practice, most of the open questions regarding the protection of digital designs and dimensional conversion can be considered as solved. The CJEU has chosen “abstract” protection over “concrete”, thus broadening the scope of protection at the EU level. This means that the digital use of non-digital designs can now be seen as infringing. As a consequence, in the future, right holders should put more care into evaluating the limitations and exceptions. The paper points this out with regard to the issues that are of relevance for the gaming industry, as this is where the use of digital designs is most versatile and relevant.

scholarly journals A Holistic Approach to Integrate and Evaluate Sustainable Development in Higher Education. The Case Study of the University of the Basque Country

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 392
Author(s):  
Estibaliz Sáez de Cámara ◽  
Idoia Fernández ◽  
Nekane Castillo-Eguskitza
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Practical Case ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
The University

Since the United Nations (UN) approved the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in 2015, higher education institutions have increasingly demonstrated their commitment by supporting several initiatives. Although a great deal of progress has been made, there is still a lack of integrative approaches to truly implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in higher education. This paper presents a practical case that illustrates how to design and articulate SDGs within an institutional setting adopting a holistic approach: EHUagenda 2030 plan of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). It is based on empirical inquiry into global and holistic sustainable transformation and a real experience to move towards a verifiable and pragmatic contribution to sustainability. This plan describes the contribution to 12 of the 17 SDGs, along with three sectorial plans (Equality Campus, Inclusion Campus and Planet Campus), as well as the refocus of the UPV/EHU’s Educational Model and the panel of sustainable development indicators, which addresses the technical aspects of monitoring the SDGs. The methodology (mapping; mainstreaming; diagnosis and definition and, finally, estimation) is systematic and replicable in other universities yet to embark upon this integration. This case study makes a contribution towards the understanding of the complexity of the changes in Higher Education and the ways to approach it.

Instrument of Mobilization or a Bridge towards Understanding? Religion and Values in the Reform Process of the European Union

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christof Mandry
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The Self ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe self-understanding of the Europeans has been profoundly put into question since 1989, and during the EU reform process, 'Europe' was confronted by the task of describing itself anew. In this context, the debate about the significance of the religious patrimony took on a key position in the discourse. The broad public discussions of the preambles to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union (ECT) indicate that the relationship between religion and political remains a controversial issue. The article argues that the 'preamble disputes' are part and parcel of the European Union's quest for a political identity and that the outcome of the identity debate—the self-description as a 'community of values'—deals in a specific way with this fundamental question.

Fixing, Adjusting, Regulating, Protecting Human Rights - The Shifting Uses of Regularisations in the European Union

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Kraler
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Irregular Migrants ◽  
National Human ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Human Rights Based Approach ◽  
The Eu

AbstractAlmost all Member States in the European Union currently make use, or in the past have made use of some form of regularisation of irregular immigrants, although to greatly varying degrees, in different ways and as a rule only reluctantly. A distinct feature of recent regularisations has been the shift towards a humanitarian justification of regularisation measures. In this context, regularisation has become reframed as an issue of the protection of irregular migrants’ human rights. As a result, regularisation has to some extent also been turned from a political tool in managing migration into an issue of international, European and national human rights law. While a human rights framework indeed offers a powerful rationale and at times compelling reasons why states ought to afford a legal status to irregular migrants, I argue that a human rights based approach must always be complemented by pragmatic considerations, as a human rights based justification of regularisation alone will be insufficient to find adequate responses to the changing presence of irregular migrants in the EU, not all of which can invoke human rights based claims to residence.

Regional competence: changing patterns of the Basque regionalism in the EU

2011 ◽  
pp. 239-263
Author(s):  
Karolina BORONSKA-HRYNIEWIECKA
Keyword(s):  
Basque Country ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Active Player ◽  
European Governance ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Pais Vasco ◽  
Supranational Level ◽  
The Eu

LABURPENA: Artikulu honek, Euskadi adibidetzat hartuta, gaur egungo nazioz azpiko erregionalismoaren izaera aldakorra aztertzen du. Eta erakusten du euskal eskualde-estrategien bilakaera, eta nola lehengo jarrera probintziaren aldekoa bazen eta elkarren arteko lehia bultzatzen bazuen, oraingoa, berriz, irekia, kooperatiboa eta berritzailea dela, hobeto moldatzen dena Europako gobernantza-modu berrietara. Gaur egungo eskualde-ikerketek eskaintzen dituzten tresna teorikoak oinarri hartuta, artikulu honek euskal erregionalismotik sortzen den jarrera hibridoa aztertzen du. Horren osagaiak berriak, postmodernoak eta nazioz haraindikoak dira, eta eskualdearen ahalmen ekonomiko, politiko eta soziala indartzeko eta Europako kontuetan jokalari aktibo izateko balio dute. Europar Batasuneko eskualdeestrategien norabideak garrantzi berezia dauka Europan sortu den maila anitzeko gobernantza dela-eta, zeinetan agintea gobernu zentraletatik aldendu baita: gorantz, nazioz gaindiko mailara; beherantz, nazioz azpiko jurisdikzioetara; eta alboetara, estatu ez direnen sare publiko eta pribatuetara, eta horrek aukera berriak eskaini dizkie erregionalistei antzeko helburuak lortzeko. RESUMEN: Este articulo analiza la naturaleza cambiante del regionalismo subnacional contemporaneo a traves del ejemplo del Pais Vasco. Muestra de que maneras las estrategias regionales vascas han evolucionado desde un aspecto provincial y de confrontacion a uno abierto, cooperativo e innovador, que se adapta a las nuevas formas de gobernanza europea. A partir de los instrumentos teoricos ofrecidos por los estudios regionales contemporaneos este articulo explora el tipo hibrido que emerge del regionalismo vasco que consiste en componentes nuevos, postmodernos y transnacionales que sirven para fortalecer la competencia economica, politica y social de la region como un jugador activo en los asuntos europeos. La cuestion de la direccion de las estrategias regionalistas en la Union Europea resulta especialmente sobresaliente a la vista de la gobernanza multinivel europea emergente donde el poder ha sido apartado de los gobiernos centrales: hacia arriba al nivel supranacional, hacia abajo a las jurisdicciones subnacionales y a los costados a las redes publicas y privadas de los actores no estatales que ha dado a los regionalistas nuevas posibilidades de alcanzar similares objetivos. ABSTRACT: This paper analyses the changing nature of the contemporary subnational regionalism through the example of the Basque Country. It shows in what ways the Basque regionalist strategies have evolved from parochial and confrontational to outward looking, cooperative and innovative, adapting to the challenges of European integration and the emergence of new modes of European governance. On the basis of theoretical tools provided by contemporary regional studies this paper explores the emerging hybrid type of Basque regionalism consisting of the new, postmodern and transnational components which serve to strenghten the economic, political and social competence of the region as an active player in European affairs. The question of the direction of regionalist strategies in the EU seems especially salient in the view of the emerging European multi-level governance where power has been dispersed away from central governments; upwards to the supranational level, downwards to subnational jurisdictions and sideways to public and private networks of non-state actors which has given the regionalists new possibilities of achieving similar goals.

The Status of Arabic in Israel: Refiections on the Power of Law to Produce Social Change

2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilan Saban ◽  
Muhammad Amara
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
The State ◽  
French Language ◽  
The Status ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Ethnic Nation ◽  
State Of Israel

AbstractThe status of Arabic in Israel gives rise to question. Israel is a rare case of an ethnic nation-state that grants the language of minority group with a legal status which isprima facieone of equality. Both Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of the State of Israel. What are the reasons for this special state of affairs? The answer is threefold: historic, sociological and legal. In various ways the potential inherent in the legal status of Arabic has been depleted of content, and as a result of that, as well as other reasons, the socio-political status of Arabic closely resembles what you would expect the status of a language of a minority group in a state that identifies itself as the state of the majority group to be. This answer, however, is another source of puzzlement – how does such a dissonance between law and practice evolve, what perpetuates it for so long, is change possible, is it to be expected?We present an analysis of the legal status of Arabic in Israel and at the same time we proceed to try and answer the questions regarding the gap between the legal and the sociopolitical status of Arabic. We reach some of our answers through a comparison with the use of law to change the status of the French language in Canada. One of these answers is that given the present constellation in Israel, the sociopolitical status of Arabic cannot meaningfully be altered by legal means.

scholarly journals The Europeanisation of Spanish Administrative Law through the Principle of Legitimate Expectations

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-86
Author(s):  
Luis Arroyo Jiménez ◽  
Gabriel Doménech Pascual
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
General Principle ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
Legitimate Expectations ◽  
The Eu

This article describes the Europeanisation of Spanish administrative law as a result of the influence of the EU law general principle of legitimate expectations. It examines, firstly, whether the formal incorporation of the principle of legitimate expectations into national legislation and case law has modified the substance of the latter, and if so, secondly, whether this has led to a weaker or a more robust protection of the legal status quo. To carry out that examination, the article considers the influence of the principle of legitimate expectations in two different areas: in individual administrative decision-making, and in legislative and administrative rulemaking. Our conclusion is that the Europeanisation of Spanish administrative law through the principle of legitimate expectations has been variable and ambiguous.

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