[lg policy] Spain: Valencian Catalan dispute: NGO and trade union to take court action

[Harold Schiffman]

Valencian Catalan dispute: NGO and trade union to take court action
Bruxelles - Brussel, Friday, 29 May 2009 by Davyth Hicks

The ongoing dispute over the Valencian government’s refusal to
recognise Valencian as Catalan, despite various court rulings, took a
new turn yesterday with the language NGO Acció Cultural del País
Valencià  (ACPV) and the trade union STEPV set to take Valencian
Regional Minister Font de Mora to court for not respecting the
numerous court judgments  that validate the unity of the language and
legality of the name "Catalan".


Toni Gisbert, coordinator of Acció Cultural del País Valencià (ACPV),
Alfons Esteve (STEPV trade union delegate at the University  of
Valencia, lawyer, language specialist and also a member of ACPV's
Institute of Language Policy), and Marc Candela (STEPV's head of
communication), appeared in a joint press conference of the two
organisations to announce the launch of proceedings.
In a press release the coordinator of ACPV made two points. Firstly,
over the “seriousness of the situation when one of the leading
representatives of the regional government (Minister for Culture and
Education) does not respect the numerous court rulings that recognize
the Catalan Philology BA as sufficient to gain accredited proficiency
in Valencian for the purpose of  applying to the Department of
Education to become a state school teacher.


“How can a public official ignore the many judicial decisions, all of
which state the same, with all impunity?” Asked APCV. “What if any
citizen paid no notice to a court decision?” said the press statement.
The press release continued that, “The seriousness of this situation
more than justifies the case that ACPV and the STEPV have decided to
take forward, for alleged disobedience of justice and alleged
diversion of public money, and to demand a public rectification by the
minister to the effect that it abides by what the courts say and to
validate the Filologia Catalana BA (degree) as sufficient proof of
proficiency in Valencian Catalan.


”The second point concerns the fact that we are talking about an issue
that affects not only the education community, but the whole of
Valencian society, not only because we are talking about refusal to
comply with numerous court decisions that affect civil service
selections examinations. There are, up to now, 21 court decisions, one
from the Constitutional Court , three from the Supreme Court and 17
from the Valencian High Court, that recognizes the unity of language
and the full legitimacy of using the term "Catalan" for "Valencian".


“With minister Font de Mora's attitude and that of President Camps, as
guarantor of that post and of the Valencian Government, refusing to
obey the pronouncements of the courts in this regard, the Valencian
Government lies outside the law and makes more difficult the necessary
understanding between Valencia and Catalonia in the context of the
economic crisis”. Said the press statement.


The co-ordinator of ACPV called for a change in government policy on
the matter, to end the censorship of the Catalan language channel TV3
in País Valencià, and to recognise the unity of language and the use
of the name "Catalan". (Eurolang 2009)


ACPV website   http://www.acpv.cat/php/index.php

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3175&Itemid=0
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