MULTILINGUALISM IN EU LAW: HOW PROMULGATION AUTHENTICATES EQUALITY

• Authors: Annarita FELICI

Title variants

PL

PRZEKŁAD PRAWA UNIJNEGO: NOWE PERSPEKTYWY PARADOKSU WIELOJĘZYCZNOŚCI

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

EU law currently applies to 27 countries and is available in 23 languages which all carry equal status. In practice, this is achieved though translation and by the work of the DGT (Directorate General Translation), which hosts the largest translation service in the world. But from a legal point of view, translation is institutionally ‘non-existent’ and EU languages are all equal and authentic. The issue has been given attention in the last two decades mostly from scholars, linguists and translators (Correia 2003, Kjær 1999, Koskinen 2000, Šarčević 2001, Tosi 2001, Wagner 2000), thus raising awareness on the paradox of translation and the lack of a proper EU language policy and legal culture. Focusing exclusively on legal texts and on the pragmatics of norms (Olivecrona 1994:[1962], von Wright 1963), I will argue that the equal authenticity of the EU language versions and the multilingual practice of the Union are less contradictory than they seem. The principle of equal authenticity applies only when texts are authenticated and published in the EU Official Journal. Before that, nothing prevents to regard them as translations or language versions. 

PL

Prawo UE obecnie odnosi się do 27 krajów, dostępne jest także w 23 językach, z których każdy ma równy status. W praktyce, jest to efekt przekładu i pracy DGT (Directorate General Translation), która zapewnia usługi tłumaczeniowe. Z prawnego punktu widzenia, przekład nie istnieje od strony instytucjonalnej, a języki UE są wszystkie równe i prawdziwe. Przez ostatnie dwie dekady zagadnienie to cieszy się zainteresowaniem głównie naukowców, językoznawców i tłumaczy (Correia 2003, Kjær 1999, Koskinen 2000, Šarčević 2001, Tosi 2001, Wagner 2000), wskazując na paradoksy translatorskie oraz brak odpowiedniej polityki językowej UE i kultury prawnej. Skupiając się wyłącznie na tekstach prawnych oraz na pragmatyce normy (Olivecrona 1994:[1962], von Wright 1963) Autorka stara się dowieść, że autentyczność równości wersji języków UE oraz praktyka wielojęzyczna nie są sprzeczne. 

IT

Il diritto europeo è in vigore nei 27 stati membri dell’Unione ed è disponibile in 23 lingue, tutte facenti ugualmente fede. Ciò è possibile grazie al DGT (Directorate General Translation) che vanta uno dei maggiori servizi di traduzione del mondo, ma da un punto di vista legale, la traduzione rimane un puro mezzo, istituzionalmente ‘inesistente’. La problematica ha ricevuto negli ultimi due decenni, considerevole attenzione da parte di ricercatori, linguisti e traduttori (Correia 2003, Kjær 1999, Koskinen 2000, Šarčević 2001, Tosi 2001, Wagner 2000), i quali hanno puntato il dito sul paradosso della traduzione e sull’assenza di una politica linguistica e di una cultura legale europea a livello unitario.Basandomi esclusivamente su testi legali e sulla pragmatica delle norme giuridiche (Olivecrona 1994:[1962], von Wright 1963), intendo dimostrare che l’autenticità linguistica delle traduzioni del diritto europeo è meno contraddittoria di quanto sembra. Il principio di autenticità è valido solo quando i testi vengono autenticati e pubblicati sulla Gazzetta Ufficiale dell’UE, ma prima di quel momento, nulla impedisce di considerarli traduzioni o versioni linguistiche.

Keywords

EN

multilingualism; EU law; promulgation; equality; Directorate General Translation

PL

wielojęzyczność; prawo UE; promulgacja; równość; Directorate General Translation; wielojęzyczność; prawo UE; promulgacja; równość; Directorate General Translation

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Comparative Legilinguistics
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 153-166

Dates

published

2017-02-09

Contributors

author

Annarita FELICI

• London Metropolitan University, Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education, Room MG5-15, 84 Moorgate, LONDON EC2M 6SQ

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Identifiers

DOI

10.14746/cl.2010.2.13