Linguistic rights and duties when dealing with the administrations in Catalonia

Abstract

Linguistic rights have an eminently collective aspect insofar as the use of language requires a communicative context that makes it possible. In this sense, the administrative sphere constitutes a decisive sector in the policies for the restoration of Catalan. The Spanish legal system establishes an unbalanced treatment of Castilian with respect to other official languages. In view of this, the 2006 statutory reform in Catalonia introduced principles and mandates to prioritise Catalan in administrative uses, as well as the respect for the linguistic rights of citizens. The article notes that the regulation of the Catalan administrations is in line with promoting the use of Catalan, developing citizens’ rights and establishing guarantees for its use, especially the need for the staff serving them to be competent in the knowledge of Catalan. In contrast, the justice and state administrations have deficiencies that leave Catalan in a subordinate position. The legal lines to prioritise Catalan have clashed with regressive jurisprudential criteria, especially since Constitutional Court Ruling 31/2010, on the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, which deactivate legal concepts such as the own language on the basis of notions such as the duty to know Spanish, the parity of official languages or the territorial encapsulation of the official status of Catalan.