“There is an atavistic tendency to consider Spanish as the language of Justice. We have it deeply rooted in our practice,” he tells Public the labor lawyer of the Ronda Collective Natxo Parra. The lawyer, who describes it as a “victory” the new organic law of the right of defense that will allow use Catalan in the courts of the Spanish Stateadmits that the real problem lies in the scarce use of the language in Justice in Catalonia.
“The situation is dramatic. The majority of judicial proceedings in Catalonia are carried out in Spanish because the tradition has passed from generation to generation and because, unconsciously, you end up adopting the language of the person who is deciding, who is the judge,” duck. According to data published by the Department of Justice, only one 14.3% of magistrates in 2022 had a C1 level of Catalan accredited. In the case of lawyers and prosecutors, the percentage rose to 28% and fell to 9%, respectively.
The key is that C1 accreditation is not a requirement, but a merit which allows you to obtain points to move to another territory. “Many times there are judges who come to Catalonia and learn Catalan, but once they master it, they leave. Then another person arrives who you have to train again. It is a very curious contradiction,” argues the vice president of Language Platform, Mireia Plana.
Overcome the hegemony of Spanish in the Catalan Justice
According to data published in July in the Report of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC)in 2023, 17,453 sentences were issued in Catalan, that is, 6.8% of the total issued (256,784). Although there are no specific figures for oral acts, it is estimated that their use is greater in trials, hearings, appearances and statements, compared to official writings and decrees.
For Parra, issuing all sentences in Catalan is “difficult”, but it would be possible for the previous procedures, “which do not depend on reasoning and are highly regulated; they are models.” “You could establish the Catalan as a vehicular language in the Administration of Justiceas is done in the Generalitat or in the city councils,” he adds.
For his part, Plana recognizes that the solution of Catalan in the courts is “complex”, since legal operators “are state bodies”that is, any person can run for any position in the State. “We have many judges who have come from other parts of Spain who do not know our language,” explains Plana, aware of the difficulty of establishing certified knowledge of Catalan as a mandatory requirement.
Catalan in state courts
Although the diagnosis in Catalonia is not very encouraging, Parra applauds the step forward of the new law on the right to defense, which allows any Catalan-speaking citizen involved in a judicial process that reaches the Supreme Court or to the National Courtyou can use Catalan to communicate at all times.
Until now, the use of the co-official languages of the State – Catalan, Basque and Galician – in courts was restricted to the territories where they had official status. If a case went to state court, it was necessary translate all documentation and change communication to Spanisheven though the trial had begun in another language. “This is a great advance, because the accused will not only be able to express himself as he prefers and will have the obligation to provide an interpreterbut will also have the right to receive all official documentation and communications in Catalan,” celebrates Plana.
It has been almost six years since the leaders of the Procés were forced to defend themselves in Spanish in the Supreme Court because they were not allowed to benefit from simultaneous translation. They were only offered the consecutive translation —phrase by phrase—, a procedure that they rejected because it interrupted their speech and did not allow them to express themselves “spontaneously.”
“In a situation of defenselessness or concern, before a court, it is logical that a person wants to use the communication tool that is most familiar to them and with which they can express all the nuances”says Plana. Turull, Cuixart or Junqueras, among others, could not exercise the right that came into force this Wednesday. In fact, the general secretary of Junts and the former president of Òmnium even had to translate some evidence themselves for Judge Manuel Marchena or prosecutor Jaime Moreno because they were written in Catalan.
Change the perception of language
According to the latest CAT report from Plataforma per la Llengua, which collects data from an Òmnibus survey by the Center for Opinion Studies, 49% of Catalan speakers think that Expressing yourself in Catalan in a trial in Catalonia can harm your interests. And the figure increases even more in the case of presenting writings in Catalan: more than half of those surveyed (51%) believe that it would not be favorable to them. Plana regrets the negative perception that society has about how using a language other than Spanish can affect them, “not only before the judicial world, but also before national security bodies.”
“It is necessary to change this vision of Catalan speakers, but also of the other party. They have to understand that using Catalan in a court or before the National Police or the Civil Guard It is not a random matter, a whim or wanting to be contrary. When a person is subjected to a tense situation, it is normal for what comes out from within them to be their own language,” he adds.
It is evident that everything helps, but for Plataforma per la Llengua, promoter of the amendments to the bill that is now a reality, it is essential to make it understood that knowledge of the language is not a superfluous issuebut in areas such as justice or health, it is “basic and essential” to guarantee the right of citizens to defend themselves or to be adequately cared for.
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