This paper will set out to explore the possibility of implementing Spanish-Language Judicial Proceedings in Hidalgo County, Texas. This February, the American Bar Association adopted new Standards for Language Access in State Courts, which assert the need for state courts to improve access to the judicial system for limited-English proficient (LEP) persons through the use of interpreters. This study investigates the possibility of conducting a proceeding in a language other than English, as an alternative to interpreters. The proposal will support the normative value of offering Spanish-language judicial proceedings in Hidalgo County, Texas, using frameworks endorsed by legal scholars Denise Gilman and Christina Rodriguez. The paper will first evaluate the current state of language access in Hidalgo County and develop a picture of the legal regime surrounding language access in Hidalgo County’s courts. From there, it will look at alternative approaches to language access in other legal regimes. Finally, it will formulate a proposal for the design and implementation of Spanish-language proceedings in Hidalgo County. Two distinct research components contribute to this study: the first involved a comprehensive review and content analysis of state and federal law that is applicable to the state courts in Hidalgo County, and which are relevant to the language access services the courts offer; the second involved original primary research, and was intended to reveal both what language access in Hidalgo County does look like, and what it could look like. The latter used qualitative interviews with lawyers, judges, and court interpreters in Hidalgo County. One of the project’s goals is to illuminate potential areas of improvement to the current language access practices in Hidalgo County, as well as the laws shaping these practices. Maybe along the way the study will offer new perspectives on meaningful access to justice, the possibility of finding novel solutions to social problems in local contexts, and institutional responses to increasing multiculturalism in the United States. / text

I address claims of offence of feelings, religious freedom and language rights, which are all ‎justified by the intrinsic interest individuals attach to their culture. I call them ‘claims from ‎cultural identity’. I develop a conception of substantive equality, understood as distributive ‎justice and underpinned by dignity, for regulating claims from cultural identity in the legal ‎system of multicultural states. I call it Equality of Cultural Identity. ‎ It is a ‘complex equality’ model, which takes cultural identity to be a sphere in ‎peoples’ lives. Unlike majority members, cultural minority members are usually under ‎constant pressure to compromise their cultural identity and assimilate in the majority ‎culture to succeed in other spheres of their lives like education and career. In accordance ‎with Walzer’s theory of Spheres of Justice, I propose a regulative principle to determine ‎the extent of cultural protection minority members deserve, according to which the ‎influence of other spheres of their lives on their sphere of cultural identity should as ‎minimal as possible. ‎ I apply this principle to claims of offence to feeling, which I re-conceptualize as ‎claims from integrity of cultural identity. I suggest the vulnerable identity principle: The ‎more vulnerable a person’s cultural identity, the stronger her claim from integrity of ‎cultural identity. This principle enhances a just distribution of symbolic goods between ‎majority and minority members, is based on objective evaluation standards, and avoids ‎legal moralism. Thus, it overcomes the major liberal worries about regulating speech. ‎ With respect to the language rights and religious freedom, I comparatively analyze ‎them qua cultural rights. I argue that the right to religious freedom, which is generously ‎interpreted by courts, bears all of the allegedly unique features of language rights that are ‎used to support their restrained judicial interpretation. Thus, the existing arguments for ‎their restrained interpretation are not valid. I identify a novel argument for their restrained ‎interpretation, which is that they impose a cultural burden on majority members, but ‎drawing on my conception of equality, I argue that it is not sound as the burden they ‎impose is not great.‎

I address claims of offence of feelings, religious freedom and language rights, which are all ‎justified by the intrinsic interest individuals attach to their culture. I call them ‘claims from ‎cultural identity’. I develop a conception of substantive equality, understood as distributive ‎justice and underpinned by dignity, for regulating claims from cultural identity in the legal ‎system of multicultural states. I call it Equality of Cultural Identity. ‎ It is a ‘complex equality’ model, which takes cultural identity to be a sphere in ‎peoples’ lives. Unlike majority members, cultural minority members are usually under ‎constant pressure to compromise their cultural identity and assimilate in the majority ‎culture to succeed in other spheres of their lives like education and career. In accordance ‎with Walzer’s theory of Spheres of Justice, I propose a regulative principle to determine ‎the extent of cultural protection minority members deserve, according to which the ‎influence of other spheres of their lives on their sphere of cultural identity should as ‎minimal as possible. ‎ I apply this principle to claims of offence to feeling, which I re-conceptualize as ‎claims from integrity of cultural identity. I suggest the vulnerable identity principle: The ‎more vulnerable a person’s cultural identity, the stronger her claim from integrity of ‎cultural identity. This principle enhances a just distribution of symbolic goods between ‎majority and minority members, is based on objective evaluation standards, and avoids ‎legal moralism. Thus, it overcomes the major liberal worries about regulating speech. ‎ With respect to the language rights and religious freedom, I comparatively analyze ‎them qua cultural rights. I argue that the right to religious freedom, which is generously ‎interpreted by courts, bears all of the allegedly unique features of language rights that are ‎used to support their restrained judicial interpretation. Thus, the existing arguments for ‎their restrained interpretation are not valid. I identify a novel argument for their restrained ‎interpretation, which is that they impose a cultural burden on majority members, but ‎drawing on my conception of equality, I argue that it is not sound as the burden they ‎impose is not great.‎

Doctor Legum - LLD / The 1996 South African Constitution contains a number of provisions that deal specifically with the protection of languages and of rights relating to language. The most important of these is section 6 which recognises 11 languages as official languages. This recognition is in line with recent developments in international law where common standards in relation to the protection of minority languages are in the process of being developed. The recognition of multilingualism as well as its implementation is thus becoming an obligation resting on all states, including South Africa. International law shows that persons belonging to linguistic minorities are entitled not only to protection against discrimination based on the language they speak, that is, formal equality, but also to positive state action in order to ensure their substantive equality. International law furthermore prescribes that where protection is given to minority languages, the principle of proportionality must guide states, and that legislation needs to be sufficiently detailed in bringing about such protection. The present thesis has as its main aims the interpretation of the provisions of the 1996 Constitution, in accordance with the above-mentioned international standards and the evaluation of the extent to which South African has complied with its constitutional obligations. The thesis in addition makes proposals in relation to what needs to be done to comply with such obligations. This is done in respect of the three levels of government - national, provincial and local - as well as the three state branches - the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. In addition, the implementation of the constitutional requirements in the educational sector is analysed.The thesis shows that a number of steps have thus far been taken in the process of giving effect to the relevant provisions of the Constitution. This includes the adoption of language policies on the national, provincial and local levels, as well as the enactment of language legislation in some provinces. In many provinces as well as municipalities, little effort has however been made to comply with these constitutional obligations. On the national level, much likewise still remains to be done in this regard. The current South African Languages Bill (2011) only caters for the activities of the national government, and does so in a way which conflicts with international norms. The Bill does not deal with parliament or the courts, and much uncertainty remains about the way in which the Constitution is to be given effect to in relation to these state branches. In relation to education, the issue of single-medium schools has been controversial, but has now been resolved by the Constitutional Court. Commendable policies have furthermore been adopted to provide for mother-tongue education, but it appears that English is slowly becoming the dominant language in education, at the expense of mother-tongue instruction.

Grounding its approach in historical and discursive institutionalist frameworks, this thesis examines the process of judicial review through an evaluation of Hogg et al.’s Charter dialogue hypothesis as it pertains to judicial invalidation of sections of the Charter of the French Language (CFL) and the legislative sequels produced by the National Assembly of Quebec (i.e. Bills 178 and 86). When examined from an historical institutionalist perspective, the National Assembly of Quebec appears to have strategized its response through an assertion of parliamentary sovereignty, rather than the desire to engage in a “dialogue” with the Supreme Court of Canada. However, a closer examination of how the Bourassa government crafted Bill 178 reveals that the first ‘legislative response’ to the Supreme Court’s decision in Devine and Ford was crafted exclusively by the executive branch, in virtual secrecy among a handful of Bourassa’s cabinet members. Displeased with the outcome of Bill 178, Anglophone civil society actors challenged the legitimacy of the CFL, as well as the notwithstanding mechanism at an international level, with their submission of Ballantyne, Davidson, McIntyre v. Canada to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). In 1993, the UNHRC ruled that Bill 178 violated sections of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The UNHRC’s decision eventually pressured the National Assembly of Quebec to amend Bill 178 with the passage of Bill 86, and consequently brought the Supreme Court’s remedies into partial effect. However, Quebec’s subsequent amendment to the CFL, Bill 86, was not a “legislative sequel” in response to judicial nullification; rather it was primarily a response to comply to international human rights norms. Bill 86 amended sections 58 and 68 of the CFL, but contrary to the recommendations of linguistic equality set forth by the Supreme Court, the Bourassa government ensured that French remained the predominant language on signage. The evidence in this thesis suggests that Charter compliance was an almost secondary effect caused by the primary objective of Quebec’s adherence to international human rights norms for the purpose of continued participation in international affairs. In its rejection of the Charter dialogue model, this thesis uncouples the pairing of the notwithstanding clause with the notion of parliamentary sovereignty and, in doing so, raises critical questions regarding the roles of the provincial executive and legislative branches during the process of constitutional interpretation. This thesis concludes that in lieu of Charter dialogue, a modified version of Baker’s model of coordinate interpretation is a more appropriate model of judicial review for summarizing the interaction of actors within the case studies of Bills 178 and 86.

L’étude du droit applicable à la langue basque en France et en Espagne et des politiques publiques menées dans chacun des pays en faveur de sa revitalisation et de sa normalisation linguistique est source de contradictions juridiques et politiques. En effet, alors que les droits français et espagnols s’opposent dans la place qu’ils font au pluralisme linguistique dans la sphère publique et à la reconnaissance des droits des communautés linguistiques, les pouvoirs publics de chaque État ont mis en place des mesures poursuivant l’objectif commun de garantir le multilinguisme dans les rapports avec l’administration et les services publics, et de permettre l’apprentissage par le plus grand nombre de la langue basque. Cette contradiction amène à s’interroger sur le modèle linguistique français et sur les pistes de conciliation nouvelle permettant d’offrir un cadre juridique plus propice à l’expression plurielle des différentes langues régionales de France, et de sécuriser juridiquement les politiques mises en place en faveur de la langue basque en France. / The study of the legal dispositions ruling the use and learning of the basque language in France and Spain, and the policies intending the revitalization and normalization of the basque language in both territories reveals a political and legal contradiction. Even if the French and Spanish regulations contain opposite principles regarding the recognition of multilingualism in the public sphere and the recognition of the rights of language communities, the public authorities in both countries have applied similar policies with the objective to ensure the use of the basque language in Administration and public service, and to allow that a large part of the population has the possibility to learn the basque language. This contradiction can be resolved with a reflexion concerning the French linguistic model. The thesis offers a proposal to establish a new legal and constitutional conciliation in France permitting a better expression of multilingualism in the public sphere, and securing legally the public policies applied in this country in the benefit of the basque language.

The purpose of this study is to understand the nature and scope of protection of minority languages and assesses how international human rights law can protect minority languages in Africa. Focuses on three questions: (1) What is the normative content of language rights?, (2) To what extent does the African human rights system protect minority languages? and 3) What measures can be taken at the national and regional levels to improve respect for and protection of minority languages in Africa?’ / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Mr E.Y. Benneh of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

According to 2§ of the Swedish Library Act, libraries shall work towards the development of a democratic society by spreading knowledge and providing people with the possibility to form their own opinions (SFS, 2013:801). It’s a natural consequence that Sweden’s national minorities are not provided with the same amount of services as the majority community, however the extent of how much space the minorities ought to be given in public libraries is a relatively unexplored research topic. This thesis uses a normative and argumentative structure to argue that public libraries ought to be prioritized more in the promotion of language and cultural rights for the Sami minority in Sweden. All of the Sami languages are defined as endangered according to the UN organization UNESCO, which makes the promotion of them a relatively urgent issue if the languages are wished to be preserved. The theoretical framework consists of Will Kymlicka’s arguments about equality and cultural diversity as a justification for group-specific rights, as well as David’s Crystal’s discussion on how to efficiently avoid language death. The arguments focus both on the linguistic and cultural benefits of an increased promotion of Sami related services in public libraries. It also highlights, and tries to tackle, potential issues such as the experienced lack of published Sami literature in Sweden.

Thesis (M.A. (Translation Studies and Linguistics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022

Canada’s official languages policy makes English and French the country’s official languages in federal institutions. The policy has succeeded in fostering equitable representation of both official languages groups in the federal public service and has improved capacities for the public service to serve the citizenry in its official language of choice. It is a puzzle however, that despite these advances, the Canadian federal public service continues to operate predominantly in English when both official languages on paper are equal languages of work. To explore this puzzle this dissertation asks: why, despite the promise of the Official Languages Act (OLA) 1969 for choice in language of work and the OLA 1988 that made the choice a claimable right, is there inequitable access to French as a language of work in the federal public service? Framed through a historical institutionalist approach and layering, this project analyzes the implementation of the official languages program in the federal public service from 1967-2013. This thesis argues that the implementation of the official languages program could not challenge the federal public service’s path dependency to operate predominantly in English. By analyzing the roles of actors and institutions that influenced the process, this dissertation finds that lack of structural change, inadequate managerial engagement and a false sense that official languages are engrained in the public service, can explain the persistence of English as the dominant language of work.