March 2005

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NEW COURT DECISION RECOGNISING THE UNITY OF THE CATALAN LANGUAGE

March 2005 – The Higher Court of the Valencian Autonomous Community has issued again, for the fifth time, a decision upholding the full legality of the ‘Catalan’ denomination in regard to the language spoken in the Valencian Country. As reported by the Linguistic Policy Service of the University of Valencia, the decision (no. 158/2005) was issued on 11 February in response to an appeal filed by a person against the Valencian Government. The person in question was excluded in 2003 from being eligible for a civil service position due to the fact that she had relied on her Catalan Philology degree to certify her Valencian language command.

The arguments stated in the decision include references to several precedents: a decision by the Spanish Constitutional Court from 1997 (no. 75/1997) and four decisions by the Valencian Higher Court from March-May 2004 (nos. 330/2004, 393/2004; 518/2004 and 677/2004). All such decisions oblige the Valencian Government to accept the Catalan Philology degree as a valid document to certify the Valencian language command when applying for the official examinations for secondary education teachers. Therefore, it is established that the ‘Catalan’ denomination is a valid equivalent of the ‘Valencian’ denomination not only in higher education but also in public administration.

One of the legal grounds used in the decision states the following: “the Constitutional Court [...] already tackled the issue –from the university autonomy perspective– as to whether “the denomination of ‘Valencian language’ used in the Statute of Autonomy of the Community is of an excluding nature and prevents the use of any other one”, obviously referring to that of ‘Catalan language’; and it reached a negative conclusion” (third legal ground). The decision of the Valencian Higher Court also states that applicants for teacher position examinations having a Catalan Philology degree are exempt from the obligatory and eliminatory Valencian examination, as happens with those holding a Valencian language teaching degree (fourth legal ground).

Mercator-Legislation’s next Working Paper, currently in preparation, will analyse the Catalan unity issue. It will be published in the end of March under the following title: “The origin and evolution of language secessionism in Valencia. An analysis from the transition period until today”.