The ECHR upholds 25% of Spanish in classrooms: "Catalonia is a bilingual region"

BrusselsStrasbourg's cold water bucket to Catalan and linguistic immersion. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has unanimously decided to dismiss the lawsuit filed by families from the Turó del Drac educational center in Canet de Mar against the ruling of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) that "requires at least 25%% of classes to be taught in Spanish in Catalonia. "Prohibiting the use of Spanish as a language of instruction would deprive Spanish citizens of their right to be educated in the national language," concludes the decision published this Thursday by the European court. The verdict comes as the Constitutional Court's decision on the appeal filed by the TSJC with the high court is still pending, so that it could decide whether the law and the decree approved by the Government of Pere Aragonès to prevent the application of the 25% Spanish ruling infringed the Constitution. The ECHR's decision is not binding and the Government points out that it does not affect the entire educational system. Experts consulted by ARA agree, although they also warn that its arguments could influence the Constitutional Court's decision.

The ECHR defines Catalonia as a "bilingual region" of Spain, where both Catalan and Spanish "enjoy equal status as official languages." Furthermore, since Spanish is an official language throughout the State, it considers that linguistic immersion discriminates against non-Catalan speakers. "Receiving an education in the state language is crucial to facilitate equal access for students to the state educational system and to preserve the principle of unity of the educational system," the document adds.

In fact, the Strasbourg Court states that linguistic immersion has resulted in discrimination among Spanish speakers and not a cohesive educational policy. Specifically, the ECHR states that the "integration of the children" of immigrants from the rest of Spain who arrived in Catalonia in the past was "made difficult," as they came from regions where only Spanish was spoken.

Strasbourg admits that the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages aims to guarantee the teaching of minority languages, as is the case with Catalan, but sees other ways to achieve this purpose without having to apply linguistic immersion. Thus, the ECHR considers it more appropriate to opt for bilingual or multilingual education, or simply for there to be "classes in minority languages in public schools" or "private minority language schools". In other words, for Strasbourg, educating in Catalan should not be a priority.

The European court also argues that the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe "does not establish what weight" minority languages should have in curricula and, therefore, dismisses that the sentence of the Spanish justice system which obliges to teach at least 25% of classes in Spanish in Catalonia violates any right of the Catalan linguistic community. "The challenged judicial decision did not repeal the school's linguistic policy, but simply increased the use of Spanish in one or more subjects, without modifying the predominant use of Catalan as the language of instruction," argues the ruling, which considers that the TSJC's sentence dictates "an adequate balance between the preservation of the unity of the educational system and the promotion of linguistic diversity".

A case for Spanish justice

Strasbourg also dismisses the arguments of the families of the educational center of Canet de Mar against the fact that Spanish justice has not taken into account the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe and assures that it is the competence of the State's courts to determine whether state legislation complies with this regulation. Thus, the ECtHR assures that they could only have entered to evaluate the case if Spanish justice had acted or provided "arbitrary or manifestly irrational" arguments.

The ECtHR reiterates these arguments when annulling the part of the appeal that denounces the fact that Spanish justice has not referred the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). "The Convention does not guarantee, as such, the right for a national court to refer a matter to another national or international authority for a preliminary ruling," the document recalls.

Along the same lines, the court assures that "the applicants did not request a referral nor did they provide any argument explaining why a preliminary ruling was necessary" to the CJEU and, therefore, European justice also has no obligation to take it to the Luxembourg court. In this way, the decision published this Thursday by the ECtHR maintains the judicial situation of linguistic immersion as it was, and therefore, the use of Catalan in schools in Catalonia remains on the roof of Spanish justice.

The pending decision of the Constitutional Court

The ECHR's decision should not set a precedent for the ruling that the Constitutional Court must issue on the constitutionality of the two laws approved by the Government of Pere Aragonès to circumvent the obligation of 25% Spanish in classrooms. Joan Ridao, professor of constitutional law at the University of Barcelona, recalls that "ECHR jurisprudence is binding only on matters of fundamental rights" and this is not the case pending resolution by the TC.

However, Ridao admits that courts "enter into dialogue through their pronouncements". That is, the arguments that the ECHR has issued to delve into the merits of the 25% Spanish in classrooms could influence the TC. This is agreed by Montserrat Nebrera, professor of constitutional law at the International University, who adds that the ECHR's arguments could "inspire" the decision of the Spanish high court: "It is discretionary". Ridao, in this regard, recommends "avoiding" scattering strategies before the courts.

The Government's reaction

After learning of the ECHR's decision, the Government has highlighted that "it is not a ruling, but the decision not to admit the appeal for processing" and, therefore, "it does not delve into the merits of the case and has no impact on the entire educational system of Catalonia or on our regulations," said the Minister of Linguistic Policy, Francesc Xavier Vila. The minister also said that the Government is "committed to the Catalan school model that has Catalan as its center of gravity." Responding in part to the ruling, he recalled that the objective of the Catalan model is "that all students achieve full competence in the official languages, Catalan and Spanish, and that the school contributes to increasing the role of Catalan as a language of social cohesion.

Òmnium, the entity coordinating the legal action of the complainant families, has issued a statement in which it has lamented the court's position and has called for "the articulation of a united and forceful response from the country in the face of the future ruling of the Constitutional Court." The president of the cultural entity, Xavier Antich, recalls that the current linguistic model of Catalonia stems from a law approved by Parliament with 85% of the support. However, Òmnium recalls that the ECHR's verdict "does not impose any percentage, does not resolve the constitutionality of the Catalan law of 2022, and does not annul the margin of Catalan institutions to protect Catalan".

The Assembly for a Bilingual School in Catalonia (AEB) has celebrated that the ECHR "disauthorizes the exclusion of Spanish" from the educational system. The entity considers it "important support" for the constitutional principles of linguistic co-officiality and emphasizes that the ECHR "expressly" recalls that Catalonia is a "bilingual" region and that "prohibiting the use of Spanish as a language of instruction would deprive Spanish citizens of their right to be educated in the official language of the State".