BarcelonaJudicial processes started in Catalan-speaking territories may continue in Catalan when they reach state authorities. In addition, the courts throughout the State will have to provide translators “if the use of a language, especially the mother tongue or one of the official languages in the autonomous communities, contributes to guaranteeing the exercise of the right of defence”. These are two of the important novelties of the law on the right of defence, which will enter into force on December 4 and which would have allowed, for example, those accused of the Trial to have been able to speak Catalan in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court or the National Court must send the documentation in Catalan to the parties who request it. The new law, approved by the Courts and published this Thursday in the BOE, will allow a Catalan-speaking citizen involved in a judicial process anywhere in Spain to be able to express himself in Catalan as long as he resides in Catalonia, the Valencian Country or the Balearic Islands, or that legal proceedings have been initiated in any of these territories.
The PSOE and Esquerra agreed at the beginning of the legislature on a legal reform so that Catalan can be used in the field of justice throughout the State, but it was the technicians of Plataforma per la Léngua who participated in the drafting of two amendments, sent through Junts. For example, by making a sentence of the National Court become law -relating to some defendants, Roura and Stern, who burned a photo of Joan Carlos I-, in which this court argued that the right of defense was overridden of other considerations, and this obliged the courts to respect the use of a language other than Spanish if this benefited the defence. On the other hand, a few weeks ago the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, already explained that the Spanish government would resort to artificial intelligence so that all resolutions are accessible in all official languages.
The new law is a significant advance, at least in theory. However, the reality is that in Catalonia, where Catalan is fully official, only 7% of sentences are written in Catalan. Only 14% of judges have a basic level of Catalan and, therefore, 80% of courts do not respect the language option and continue to notify decisions in Spanish. Two days ago the Council of Europe urged Spain to take measures as a “priority” to guarantee Catalan in justice, education and health.
