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Abstract:
According to many scholars, Community law simply cannot be understood without taking its multilingual character into account. The equal authenticity of all language versions of a Community provision, and the danger of diverging meanings between versions, imply a duty to consider the various versions when interpreting or applying laws. At the EU level, this duty can be said to be reasonably adhered to, considering the enormous strain on the Union’s translating service (there are now twenty-three authentic and working languages used in the EU institutions). However, the day-to-day interpretation and application of Community law actually takes place in the many and various courts and tribunals of the Member States.
The author provides an in-depth analysis of the actual use of multilingual interpretation of Community law in national courts. He has sifted from the (mostly recent) history of high courts (and some lower courts) in Germany, England, and Denmark some 186 judgements in which the courts diverged from reading the national language version in isolation by admitting one or more other language versions of a Community provision. In each instance he investigates:
- why and under what circumstances this initiative was taken
- which and how many foreign language versions were used
- in what way the national court gained knowledge of the meaning of the foreign language versions
- how the court acted when the meanings of the examined language versions deviated from each other.
Contents:
Part I: Overview
1. Introduction
2. Multilingual Interpretation in International Law: Introducing the Vienna Convention
Part II: Rules and Guidelines Concerning the Multilingual Interpretation of EU Law
3. The European Court of Justice and the Multilingual Character of European Union Law
4. Preliminary Rulings and Multilingual Interpretation of EU Law
Part III: Multilingual Interpretation of European Union Law in National Courts
5. The Importance of Multilingualism in Monolingual Interpretation
6. Multilingual Interpretation Activated by Interpretative Doubt
7. Multilingual Interpretation Activated Automatically
8. Multilingual Interpretation Activated by the Parties
9. Multilingual Interpretation Activated by Other Factors
10. Choosing and Reading Foreign Languages
11. Reconciling Diverging Language Versions
12. Understanding the Attitudes of National Courts
Part IV: The Emerging Picture
13. Summary of Conclusions: The Complexity of the Multilingual Interpretation of EU Law
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