Justice rejects that an intermediate level of Catalan be required from Parliament drivers

BarcelonaThe Parliament cannot require drivers to prove an intermediate level of Catalan, but at most an elementary level. This is the response given by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) to the request of Convivencia Cívica Catalana, which asked to annul the bases of a call for positions for these official vehicle drivers who transport high-ranking officials of the Generalitat. Specifically, the Spanish nationalist entity wanted to eliminate the requirement for candidates to demonstrate a B2 level of Catalan.

The ruling, written in Catalan and which can be appealed to the Supreme Court, refers to a decree from 2002 that establishes the linguistic knowledge that public administration workers in Catalonia must prove based on their job category. In the case of Parliament drivers, who belong to group C2, it is the elementary level or B1 of Catalan.

This procedure has been followed as a case of violation of fundamental rights, and now the TSJC concludes that the call for positions violated the fundamental right of access to public service because it was an exclusionary requirement to apply for the position. Sources from Parliament indicate that they have not yet received the ruling or evaluated what to do about it. In any case, they point out that the tests have already finished and the winners have been selected.

Impact

On the other hand, Convivencia Cívica Catalana assures that this ruling will force the entire selection process to be repeated, eliminating this requirement. The entity also believes that it can pave the way for other litigation that they had underway against different town councils to request proof of Catalan level in calls for municipal positions.

One of the arguments that Parliament has put forward during the procedure is that the Chamber's statutes require knowledge of the Catalan language. They have also insisted on the difference between the professional category of driver, who are required to have a driving license and knowledge of mechanics, and that of a driver with representation services, with functions that may be analogous to those of ushers, who are required to have a B2.