The Universal Declaration Of Linguistic Rights
| UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF LINGUISTIC RIGHTS |
| PRELIMINARIES The institutions and non-governmental organizations, signatories to the present Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, meeting in Barcelona from 6 to 9 June 1996,Having regard to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which, in its preamble, expresses its «faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women»; and which, in its second article, establishes that «everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms» regardless of «race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status»;
Having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966 (Article 27), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the same date which, in their preambles, state that human beings cannot be free unless conditions are created which enable them to enjoy both their civil and political rights and their economic, social and cultural rights; Having regard to Resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992 of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization which adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National, Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities; Having regard to the declarations and conventions of the Council of Europe, such as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, of 4 November 1950 (Article 14); the Convention of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe, of 29 June 1992, approving the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; the Declaration on National Minorities made by the Summit Meeting of the Council of Europe on 9 October 1993; and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of November 1994; Having regard to the Santiago de Compostela Declaration of the International PEN Club and the Declaration of 15 December 1993 of the Translations and Linguistic Rights Committee of the International PEN Club concerning the proposal to hold a World Conference on Linguistic Rights; Considering that, in the Recife, Brazil, Declaration of 9 October 1987, the 12th Seminar of the International Association for the Development of Intercultural Communication recommended the United Nations Organization to take the necessary steps to approve and implement a Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights; Having regard to Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization of 26 June 1989 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries; Having regard to the Universal Declaration of the Collective Rights of Peoples, Barcelona, May 1990, which declared that all peoples have the right to express and develop their culture, language and rules of organization and, to this end, to adopt political, educational, communications and governmental structures of their own, within different political frameworks; Having regard to the Final Declaration adopted by the General Assembly of the International Federation of Modern Language Teachers in Pécs (Hungary) on 16 August 1991, which recommended that linguistic rights be considered as fundamental rights of the individual; Having regard to the report of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, of 20 April 1994, concerning the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which viewed individual rights in the light of collective rights; Having Regard to the draft Declaration of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, approved at session 1278 on 18 September 1995; Considering that the majority of the world’s endangered languages belong to non-sovereign peoples and that the main factors which prevent the development of these languages and accelerate the process of language substitution include the lack of self-government and the policy of states which impose their political and administrative structures and their language; Considering that invasion, colonization, occupation and other instances of political, economic or social subordination often involve the direct imposition of a foreign language or, at the very least, distort perceptions of the value of languages and give rise to hierarchical linguistic attitudes which undermine the language loyalty of speakers; and considering that the languages of some peoples which have attained sovereignty are consequently immersed in a process of language substitution as a result of a policy which favours the language of former colonial or imperial powers; Considering that universalism must be based on a conception of linguistic and cultural diversity which prevails over trends towards homogenization and towards exclusionary isolation; Considering that, in order to ensure peaceful coexistence between language communities, overall principles must be found so as to guarantee the promotion and respect of all languages and their social use in public and in private; Considering that various factors of an extralinguistic nature (historical, political, territorial, demographic, economic, sociocultural and sociolinguistic factors and those related to collective attitudes) give rise to problems which lead to the extinction, marginalization and degeneration of numerous languages, and that linguistic rights must therefore be examined in an overall perspective, so as to apply appropriate solutions in each case; In the belief that a Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights is required in order to correct linguistic imbalances with a view to ensuring the respect and full development of all languages and establishing the principles for a just and equitable linguistic peace throughout the world as a key factor in the maintenance of harmonious social relations; HEREBY DECLARE THAT PREAMBLE The situation of each language, in view of the foregoing considerations, is the result of the convergence and interaction of a wide range of factors of a political and legal, ideological and historical, demographic and territorial, economic and social, cultural, linguistic and sociolinguistic, interlinguistic and subjective nature. At the present time, these factors are defined by: . The age-old unifying tendency of the majority of states to reduce diversity and foster attitudes opposed to cultural plurality and linguistic pluralism. . The trend towards a worldwide economy and consequently towards a worldwide market of information, communications and culture, which disrupts the spheres of interrelation and the forms of interaction that guarantee the internal cohesion of language communities. . The economicist growth model put forward by transnational economic groups which seeks to identify deregulation with progress and competitive individualism with freedom and generates serious and growing economic, social, cultural and linguistic inequality. Language communities are currently threatened by a lack of self-government, a limited population or one that is partially or wholly dispersed, a fragile economy, an uncodified language, or a cultural model opposed to the dominant one, which make it impossible for many languages to survive and develop unless the following basic goals are taken into account: . In a political perspective, the goal of conceiving a way of organizing linguistic diversity so as to permit the effective participation of language communities in this new growth model. . In a cultural perspective, the goal of rendering the worldwide communications space compatible with the equitable participation of all peoples, language communities and individuals in the development process. . In an economic perspective, the goal of fostering sustainable development based on the participation of all and on respect for the ecological balance of societies and for equitable relationships between all languages and cultures. For all these reasons, this Declaration takes language communities and not states as its point of departure and is to be viewed in the context of the reinforcement of international institutions capable of guaranteeing sustainable and equitable development for the whole of humanity. For these reasons also it aims to encourage the creation of a political framework for linguistic diversity based upon respect, harmonious coexistence and mutual benefit. PRELIMINARY TITLE Article 1 2. This Declaration takes as its point of departure the principle that linguistic rights are individual and collective at one and the same time. In defining the full range of linguistic rights, it adopts as its referent the case of a historical language community within its own territorial space, this space being understood, not only as the geographical area where the community lives, but also as the social and functional space vital to the full development of the language. Only on this basis is it possible to define the rights of the language groups mentioned in point 5 of the present article, and those of individuals living outside the territory of their community, in terms of a gradation or continuum. 3. For the purpose of this Declaration, groups are also deemed to be in their own territory and to belong to a language community in the following circumstances: i. when they are separated from the main body of their community by political or administrative boundaries; ii. when they have been historically established in a small geographical area surrounded by members of otherlanguage communities; or iii. when they are established in a geographical area which they share with the members of other language communities with similar historical antecedents. 4. This Declaration also considers nomad peoples within their areas of migration and peoples established in geographically dispersed locations as language communities in their own historical territory. 5. This Declaration considers as a language group any group of persons sharing the same language which is established in the territorial space of another language community but which does not possess historical antecedents equivalent to those of that community. Examples of such groups are immigrants, refugees, deported persons and members of diasporas. Article 2 2. In the quest for a satisfactory sociolinguistic balance, that is, in order to establish the appropriate articulation between the respective rights of such language communities and groups and the persons belonging to them, various factors, besides their respective historical antecedents in the territory and their democratically expressed will, must be taken into account. Such factors, which may call for compensatory treatment aimed at restoring a balance, include the coercive nature of the migrations which have led to the coexistence of the different communities and groups, and their degree of political, socioeconomic and cultural vulnerability. Article 3 the right to be recognized as a member of a language community; the right to the use of one’s own language both in private and in public; the right to the use of one’s own name; the right to interrelate and associate with other members of one’s language community of origin; the right to maintain and develop one’s own culture; and all the other rights related to language which are recognized in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966 and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the same date. 2. This Declaration considers that the collective rights of language groups may include the following, in addition to the rights attributed to the members of language groups in the foregoing paragraph, and in accordance with the conditions laid down in article 2.2: the right for their own language and culture to be taught; the right of access to cultural services; the right to an equitable presence of their language and culture in the communications media; the right to receive attention in their own language from government bodies and in socioeconomic relations. 3. The aforementioned rights of persons and language groups must in no way hinder the interrelation of such persons or groups with the host language community or their integration into that community. Nor must they restrict the rights of the host community or its members to the full public use of the community’s own language throughout its territorial space. Article 4 2. This Declaration considers, on the other hand, that assimilation, a term which is understood to mean acculturation in the host society, in such a way that the original cultural characteristics are replaced by the references, values and forms of behaviour of the host society, must on no account be forced or induced and can only be the result of an entirely free choice. Article 5 Article 6 TITLE ONE Article 7 2. All languages are collectively constituted and are made available within a community for individual use as tools of cohesion, identification, communication and creative expression. Article 8 2. All language communities are entitled to have at their disposal whatever means are necessary to ensure the transmission and continuity of their language. Article 9 Article 10 2. This Declaration considers discrimination against language communities to be inadmissible, whether it be based on their degree of political sovereignty, their situation defined in social, economic or other terms, the extent to which their languages have been codified, updated or modernized, or on any other criterion. 3. All necessary steps must be taken in order to implement this principle of equality and to render it effective. Article 11 Article 12 2. Everyone has the right to use his/her language in the personal and family sphere. Article 13 2. Everyone has the right to be polyglot and to know and use the language most conducive to his/her personal development or social mobility, without prejudice to the guarantees established in this Declaration for the public use of the language proper to the territory. Article 14 SECOND TITLE Section I Article 15 2. All language communities have the right for legal and administrative acts, public and private documents and records in public registers which are drawn up in the language of the territory to be valid and effective and no one can allege ignorance of this language. Article 16 Article 17 2. Forms and standard administrative documents, whether in printed, machine-readable or any other form, must be made available and placed at the disposal of the public in all territorial languages by the public authorities through the services which cover the territories to which each language is proper. Article 18 2. Public authorities who have more than one territorially historic language within their jurisdiction must publish all laws and other legal provisions of a general nature in each of these languages, whether or not their speakers understand other languages. Article 19 2. This right also applies to the languages of the communities established in geographically dispersed locations referred to in Article 1, Paragraph 4. Article 20 2. Everyone has the right, in all cases, to be tried in a language which s/he understands and can speak and to obtain the services of an interpreter free of charge. Article 21 Article 22 Section II Article 23 2. Education must help to maintain and develop the language spoken by the language community of the territory where it is provided. 3. Education must always be at the service of linguistic and cultural diversity and of harmonious relations between different language communities throughout the world. 4. Within the context of the foregoing principles, everyone has the right to learn any language. Article 24 Article 25 Article 26 Article 27 Article 28 Article 29 2. This right does not exclude the right to acquire oral and written knowledge of any language which may be of use to him/her as an instrument of communication with other language communities. Article 30 Section III Article 31 Article 32 2. All language communities have the right to establish, preserve and revise autochthonous place names. Such place names cannot be arbitrarily abolished, distorted or adapted, nor can they be replaced if changes in the political situation, or changes of any other type, occur. Article 33 All language communities have the right to refer to themselves by the name used in their own language. Any translation into other languages must avoid ambiguous or pejorative denominations. Article 34 Section IV Article 35 Article 37 Article 38 Article 39 Article 40 Section V Article 41 2. All language communities must be able to exercise this right to the full without any community’s space being subjected to hegemonic occupation by a foreign culture. Article 42 Article 43 Article 44 All language communities are entitled to access to intercultural programmes, through the dissemination of adequate information, and to support for activities such as teaching the language to foreigners, translation, dubbing, post-synchronization and subtitling. Article 45 Article 46 Section VI Article 47 2. All members of a language community are entitled to have at their disposal, in their own language, all the means necessary for the performance of their professional activities, such as documents and works of reference, instructions, forms, and computer equipment, tools and products. 3. The use of other languages in this sphere can only be required in so far as it is justified by the nature of the professional activity involved. In no case can a more recently arrived language relegate or supersede the use of the language proper to the territory. Article 48 2. No clause in such private acts can exclude or restrict the use of the language proper to the territory. 3. Within the territory of his/her language community, everyone is entitled to have the documents required for the above-mentioned operations at his/her disposal in his/her own language. Such documents include forms, cheques, contracts, invoices, receipts, delivery notes, order forms, and others. Article 49 Article 50 2. Within the territory of his/her language community, everyone has the right to receive full oral and written information in his/her own language on the products and services proposed by commercial establishments, such as instructions for use, labels, lists of ingredients, advertising, guarantees and others 3. All public indications affecting the safety of persons must be expressed at least in the language proper to the territory, in conditions which are not inferior to those of any other language. Article 51 2. Everyone has the right, as a client, customer, consumer or user, to receive oral and written information in the language proper to the territory from establishments open to the public. Article 52 ADDITIONAL DISPOSITIONS First Second The public authorities must ensure that the offial bodies, organizations and persons concerned are informed of the rights and correlative duties arising from this Declaration. Third The public authorities must establish, in the light of existing legislation, the sanctions to be applied in cases of violation of the linguistic rights laid down in this Declaration. FINAL DISPOSITIONS First Second This Declaration recommends and promotes the creation of a World Commission on Linguistic Rights, a non-official, consultative body made up of representatives of non-governmental organizations and other organizations working in the field of linguistic law. Barcelona, June 1996 |
| UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF LINGUISTIC RIGHTS |
| PRELIMINARIESThe institutions and non-governmental organizations, signatories to the present Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, meeting in Barcelona from 6 to 9 June 1996,Having regard to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which, in its preamble, expresses its «faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women»; and which, in its second article, establishes that «everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms» regardless of «race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status»;
Having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966 (Article 27), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the same date which, in their preambles, state that human beings cannot be free unless conditions are created which enable them to enjoy both their civil and political rights and their economic, social and cultural rights; Having regard to Resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992 of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization which adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National, Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities; Having regard to the declarations and conventions of the Council of Europe, such as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, of 4 November 1950 (Article 14); the Convention of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe, of 29 June 1992, approving the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; the Declaration on National Minorities made by the Summit Meeting of the Council of Europe on 9 October 1993; and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of November 1994; Having regard to the Santiago de Compostela Declaration of the International PEN Club and the Declaration of 15 December 1993 of the Translations and Linguistic Rights Committee of the International PEN Club concerning the proposal to hold a World Conference on Linguistic Rights; Considering that, in the Recife, Brazil, Declaration of 9 October 1987, the 12th Seminar of the International Association for the Development of Intercultural Communication recommended the United Nations Organization to take the necessary steps to approve and implement a Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights; Having regard to Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization of 26 June 1989 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries; Having regard to the Universal Declaration of the Collective Rights of Peoples, Barcelona, May 1990, which declared that all peoples have the right to express and develop their culture, language and rules of organization and, to this end, to adopt political, educational, communications and governmental structures of their own, within different political frameworks; Having regard to the Final Declaration adopted by the General Assembly of the International Federation of Modern Language Teachers in Pécs (Hungary) on 16 August 1991, which recommended that linguistic rights be considered as fundamental rights of the individual; Having regard to the report of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, of 20 April 1994, concerning the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which viewed individual rights in the light of collective rights; Having Regard to the draft Declaration of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, approved at session 1278 on 18 September 1995; Considering that the majority of the world’s endangered languages belong to non-sovereign peoples and that the main factors which prevent the development of these languages and accelerate the process of language substitution include the lack of self-government and the policy of states which impose their political and administrative structures and their language; Considering that invasion, colonization, occupation and other instances of political, economic or social subordination often involve the direct imposition of a foreign language or, at the very least, distort perceptions of the value of languages and give rise to hierarchical linguistic attitudes which undermine the language loyalty of speakers; and considering that the languages of some peoples which have attained sovereignty are consequently immersed in a process of language substitution as a result of a policy which favours the language of former colonial or imperial powers; Considering that universalism must be based on a conception of linguistic and cultural diversity which prevails over trends towards homogenization and towards exclusionary isolation; Considering that, in order to ensure peaceful coexistence between language communities, overall principles must be found so as to guarantee the promotion and respect of all languages and their social use in public and in private; Considering that various factors of an extralinguistic nature (historical, political, territorial, demographic, economic, sociocultural and sociolinguistic factors and those related to collective attitudes) give rise to problems which lead to the extinction, marginalization and degeneration of numerous languages, and that linguistic rights must therefore be examined in an overall perspective, so as to apply appropriate solutions in each case; In the belief that a Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights is required in order to correct linguistic imbalances with a view to ensuring the respect and full development of all languages and establishing the principles for a just and equitable linguistic peace throughout the world as a key factor in the maintenance of harmonious social relations; HEREBY DECLARE THAT PREAMBLE The situation of each language, in view of the foregoing considerations, is the result of the convergence and interaction of a wide range of factors of a political and legal, ideological and historical, demographic and territorial, economic and social, cultural, linguistic and sociolinguistic, interlinguistic and subjective nature. At the present time, these factors are defined by: . The age-old unifying tendency of the majority of states to reduce diversity and foster attitudes opposed to cultural plurality and linguistic pluralism. . The trend towards a worldwide economy and consequently towards a worldwide market of information, communications and culture, which disrupts the spheres of interrelation and the forms of interaction that guarantee the internal cohesion of language communities. . The economicist growth model put forward by transnational economic groups which seeks to identify deregulation with progress and competitive individualism with freedom and generates serious and growing economic, social, cultural and linguistic inequality. Language communities are currently threatened by a lack of self-government, a limited population or one that is partially or wholly dispersed, a fragile economy, an uncodified language, or a cultural model opposed to the dominant one, which make it impossible for many languages to survive and develop unless the following basic goals are taken into account: . In a political perspective, the goal of conceiving a way of organizing linguistic diversity so as to permit the effective participation of language communities in this new growth model. . In a cultural perspective, the goal of rendering the worldwide communications space compatible with the equitable participation of all peoples, language communities and individuals in the development process. . In an economic perspective, the goal of fostering sustainable development based on the participation of all and on respect for the ecological balance of societies and for equitable relationships between all languages and cultures. For all these reasons, this Declaration takes language communities and not states as its point of departure and is to be viewed in the context of the reinforcement of international institutions capable of guaranteeing sustainable and equitable development for the whole of humanity. For these reasons also it aims to encourage the creation of a political framework for linguistic diversity based upon respect, harmonious coexistence and mutual benefit. PRELIMINARY TITLE Article 1 2. This Declaration takes as its point of departure the principle that linguistic rights are individual and collective at one and the same time. In defining the full range of linguistic rights, it adopts as its referent the case of a historical language community within its own territorial space, this space being understood, not only as the geographical area where the community lives, but also as the social and functional space vital to the full development of the language. Only on this basis is it possible to define the rights of the language groups mentioned in point 5 of the present article, and those of individuals living outside the territory of their community, in terms of a gradation or continuum. 3. For the purpose of this Declaration, groups are also deemed to be in their own territory and to belong to a language community in the following circumstances: i. when they are separated from the main body of their community by political or administrative boundaries; ii. when they have been historically established in a small geographical area surrounded by members of otherlanguage communities; or iii. when they are established in a geographical area which they share with the members of other language communities with similar historical antecedents. 4. This Declaration also considers nomad peoples within their areas of migration and peoples established in geographically dispersed locations as language communities in their own historical territory. 5. This Declaration considers as a language group any group of persons sharing the same language which is established in the territorial space of another language community but which does not possess historical antecedents equivalent to those of that community. Examples of such groups are immigrants, refugees, deported persons and members of diasporas. Article 2 2. In the quest for a satisfactory sociolinguistic balance, that is, in order to establish the appropriate articulation between the respective rights of such language communities and groups and the persons belonging to them, various factors, besides their respective historical antecedents in the territory and their democratically expressed will, must be taken into account. Such factors, which may call for compensatory treatment aimed at restoring a balance, include the coercive nature of the migrations which have led to the coexistence of the different communities and groups, and their degree of political, socioeconomic and cultural vulnerability. Article 3 the right to be recognized as a member of a language community; the right to the use of one’s own language both in private and in public; the right to the use of one’s own name; the right to interrelate and associate with other members of one’s language community of origin; the right to maintain and develop one’s own culture; and all the other rights related to language which are recognized in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966 and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the same date. 2. This Declaration considers that the collective rights of language groups may include the following, in addition to the rights attributed to the members of language groups in the foregoing paragraph, and in accordance with the conditions laid down in article 2.2: the right for their own language and culture to be taught; the right of access to cultural services; the right to an equitable presence of their language and culture in the communications media; the right to receive attention in their own language from government bodies and in socioeconomic relations. 3. The aforementioned rights of persons and language groups must in no way hinder the interrelation of such persons or groups with the host language community or their integration into that community. Nor must they restrict the rights of the host community or its members to the full public use of the community’s own language throughout its territorial space. Article 4 2. This Declaration considers, on the other hand, that assimilation, a term which is understood to mean acculturation in the host society, in such a way that the original cultural characteristics are replaced by the references, values and forms of behaviour of the host society, must on no account be forced or induced and can only be the result of an entirely free choice. Article 5 Article 6 TITLE ONE Article 7 2. All languages are collectively constituted and are made available within a community for individual use as tools of cohesion, identification, communication and creative expression. Article 8 2. All language communities are entitled to have at their disposal whatever means are necessary to ensure the transmission and continuity of their language. Article 9 Article 10 2. This Declaration considers discrimination against language communities to be inadmissible, whether it be based on their degree of political sovereignty, their situation defined in social, economic or other terms, the extent to which their languages have been codified, updated or modernized, or on any other criterion. 3. All necessary steps must be taken in order to implement this principle of equality and to render it effective. Article 11 Article 12 2. Everyone has the right to use his/her language in the personal and family sphere. Article 13 2. Everyone has the right to be polyglot and to know and use the language most conducive to his/her personal development or social mobility, without prejudice to the guarantees established in this Declaration for the public use of the language proper to the territory. Article 14 SECOND TITLE Section I Article 15 2. All language communities have the right for legal and administrative acts, public and private documents and records in public registers which are drawn up in the language of the territory to be valid and effective and no one can allege ignorance of this language. Article 16 Article 17 2. Forms and standard administrative documents, whether in printed, machine-readable or any other form, must be made available and placed at the disposal of the public in all territorial languages by the public authorities through the services which cover the territories to which each language is proper. Article 18 2. Public authorities who have more than one territorially historic language within their jurisdiction must publish all laws and other legal provisions of a general nature in each of these languages, whether or not their speakers understand other languages. Article 19 2. This right also applies to the languages of the communities established in geographically dispersed locations referred to in Article 1, Paragraph 4. Article 20 2. Everyone has the right, in all cases, to be tried in a language which s/he understands and can speak and to obtain the services of an interpreter free of charge. Article 21 Article 22 Section II Article 23 2. Education must help to maintain and develop the language spoken by the language community of the territory where it is provided. 3. Education must always be at the service of linguistic and cultural diversity and of harmonious relations between different language communities throughout the world. 4. Within the context of the foregoing principles, everyone has the right to learn any language. Article 24 Article 25 Article 26 Article 27 Article 28 Article 29 2. This right does not exclude the right to acquire oral and written knowledge of any language which may be of use to him/her as an instrument of communication with other language communities. Article 30 Section III Article 31 Article 32 2. All language communities have the right to establish, preserve and revise autochthonous place names. Such place names cannot be arbitrarily abolished, distorted or adapted, nor can they be replaced if changes in the political situation, or changes of any other type, occur. Article 33 All language communities have the right to refer to themselves by the name used in their own language. Any translation into other languages must avoid ambiguous or pejorative denominations. Article 34 Section IV Article 35 Article 37 Article 38 Article 39 Article 40 Section V Article 41 2. All language communities must be able to exercise this right to the full without any community’s space being subjected to hegemonic occupation by a foreign culture. Article 42 Article 43 Article 44 All language communities are entitled to access to intercultural programmes, through the dissemination of adequate information, and to support for activities such as teaching the language to foreigners, translation, dubbing, post-synchronization and subtitling. Article 45 Article 46 Section VI Article 47 2. All members of a language community are entitled to have at their disposal, in their own language, all the means necessary for the performance of their professional activities, such as documents and works of reference, instructions, forms, and computer equipment, tools and products. 3. The use of other languages in this sphere can only be required in so far as it is justified by the nature of the professional activity involved. In no case can a more recently arrived language relegate or supersede the use of the language proper to the territory. Article 48 2. No clause in such private acts can exclude or restrict the use of the language proper to the territory. 3. Within the territory of his/her language community, everyone is entitled to have the documents required for the above-mentioned operations at his/her disposal in his/her own language. Such documents include forms, cheques, contracts, invoices, receipts, delivery notes, order forms, and others. Article 49 Article 50 2. Within the territory of his/her language community, everyone has the right to receive full oral and written information in his/her own language on the products and services proposed by commercial establishments, such as instructions for use, labels, lists of ingredients, advertising, guarantees and others 3. All public indications affecting the safety of persons must be expressed at least in the language proper to the territory, in conditions which are not inferior to those of any other language. Article 51 2. Everyone has the right, as a client, customer, consumer or user, to receive oral and written information in the language proper to the territory from establishments open to the public. Article 52 ADDITIONAL DISPOSITIONS First Second The public authorities must ensure that the offial bodies, organizations and persons concerned are informed of the rights and correlative duties arising from this Declaration. Third The public authorities must establish, in the light of existing legislation, the sanctions to be applied in cases of violation of the linguistic rights laid down in this Declaration. FINAL DISPOSITIONS First Second This Declaration recommends and promotes the creation of a World Commission on Linguistic Rights, a non-official, consultative body made up of representatives of non-governmental organizations and other organizations working in the field of linguistic law. Barcelona, June 1996 |
This is great. I added it to my blog roll, thanks… Much Appreciated… WS
Hi John,
It may be a good idea to sometimes drop into the Translation and Linguistics Rights Committee of International PEN , I am adding here the Girona Manifesto : http://pen-international.org/who-we-are/translation-linguistic-rights/girona-manifesto/girona-manifesto-on-linguistic-rights/ I am always looking for ways to transmit these links in their entire, but I have not added this manifesto onto poethead yet.