Multilingualism in EU Law: How Promulgation Authenticates Equality
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2010
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Instytut Językoznawstwa Wydział Neofilologii, UAM
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Przekład prawa unijnego: nowe perspektywy paradoksu wielojęzyczności
Translating EU law: a new perspective to the paradox of multilingualism
Translating EU law: a new perspective to the paradox of multilingualism
Abstract
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, Ńarčević 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.
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, Ńarčević 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.
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, Ńarčević 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.
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Comparative Legilinguistics, vol. 2, 2010, pp. 153-166.