Language Use in Courts under International Law: Thoughts on the Applicability of Article 9 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Hungary

Gyeney, Laura (2025) Language Use in Courts under International Law: Thoughts on the Applicability of Article 9 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Hungary. HUNGARIAN JOURNAL OF MINORITY STUDIES, 8. pp. 93-105. ISSN 2560-080X

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Abstract

Based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s idea (“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world”), this study examines a specific dimension of minority language use, namely the right to use one’s language in court. It points out that the survival of a minority language presupposes not only the existence of a community of speakers but also a conscious, institutionalized commitment to language policy on the part of the state. As a normative framework, it juxtaposes the provisions of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 9 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and presents the linguistic characteristics of criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings. The study argues that the structural weaknesses of Article 9 of the Language Charter (the minimization of enforceable rights, territorial and numerical restrictions, and judicial discretion in ensuring rights) carry the risk of undermining the right to language use in court. Using the example of a case study—the Constitutional Court’s Decision 2/2021. (I. 7.) AB—the author argues that in the current political environment, constitutional courts and supreme courts have a key role to play in interpreting and effectively enforcing language rights as a “living right.”

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