SignlanguagerecognitionintheEU
EstonianDeafEducationataCrossroadJubileeconferenceof150YearsofDeafEducationNordicHotelForumconferencecentre,Tallinn
10thofNovember,2016Dr. MarkkuJokinen
EuropeanUnionoftheDeafPresident
Introduction
• UNCRPD:Signlanguagesspecificallyincludedinlanguagedefinitions(article2),otherarticles9,21,24and30• Article21oftheCharteroffundamental(EU)rightsprohibitsdiscriminationonthebasisoflanguage• SignlanguagerecognitionsituationinEUstillproblematic:• FragmentationofsignlanguagelegislationsintheEU• Lackofrespectofsignlanguageusers’linguisticrights
EuropeanUnionoftheDeaf• ENGO comprisingNADs• 31 fullmembers(28 EUMemberStates+Iceland,Norway, andSwitzerland)• Only supranationalorganisation representingDeaf peopleatEuropeanlevelinconsultationwithEUInstitutions/officials• 3 long-termgoals:
• Recognition oftherighttouseanindigenous sign language• Empowerment throughcommunicationand information• Equality ineducationandemployment
EU Statistics
60-80 million
715 000
9 900
73
Deaf Sign Language users
Hard of hearing
Registered sign language interpreters
SignlanguagesinEurope
• About1millionsignlanguageusersinEurope• Ratiofrom5:1to500:1signlanguageuserstosignlanguageinterpretersintheEU• ImportantvariationsacrossEUcountries
SignLanguageLegislationintheEU
EUDBook2012
• 2nd VersionpublishedinNovember2012• Collectionofalllegislationmentioning/recognisingSLacrossEurope• LegislationatUN,EU,national,andregionallevel• SLasaHumanRight(LinguisticHumanRights)• SLasmothertongueofDeafpeople
Sign language recognition
• Constitution• Separate sign language law• Disability law• Education law• Police(criminal law)•Mediaandcommunication law• Interpreter law• Other
Member States Constitution Separate Language Disability Education Media/Communication Criminal Procedure Interpreting Health Employment Other TOTALAustria ✓ ✓ ✓ 3Belgium - Flanders ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5Belgium - Wallonia ✓ ✓ ✓ 3Bulgaria ✓ 1Cyprus ✓ 1Czech Republic ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5Denmark ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 6Estonia ✓ ✓ 2Finland ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 7France ✓ ✓ 2Germany ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4Greece ✓ ✓ ✓ 3Hungary ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 6Ireland ✓ 1Italy 0Latvia ✓ ✓ ✓ 3Lithuania ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4Luxembourg 0Malta 0Netherlands ✓ ✓ ✓ 3Poland ✓ ✓ ✓ 3Portugal ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4Romania ✓ ✓ 2Slovakia ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5Slovenia ✓ ✓ 2Spain ✓ ✓ 2Sweden ✓ ✓ ✓ 3United Kingdom ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4Affilated Member StatesBosnia Herzegovina ✓ ✓ 2Iceland ✓ ✓ ✓ 3Norway ✓ 1Switzerland ✓ ✓ ✓ 3
TOTAL 4 12 5 10 17 10 7 16 5 2 4
SignLanguageLegislation inEurope
• ConstitutionalRecognition• RecognitionbyMeansofGeneralLanguageLegislation• RecognitionbyMeansofaSignLanguageLaworAct• RecognitionbyMeansofaSignLanguageLaworAct,includingOtherMeansofCommunication• RecognitionbyMeansofLegislationontheFunctioningoftheNationalLanguageCouncil
• DeMeulder,M.(2015b).Thelegalrecognitionofsignlanguages.SignLanguageStudies,15(4),498–506.
SignLanguageLegislationinEurope
• ConstitutionalRecognition• Finland(1995,Section17,ontherighttoone’slanguage andculture)• Austria(2005,Article8,onlanguages)• Hungary(2011,ArticleH,onlanguage)• Portugal(1997,Article74,oneducation)
• DeMeulder,M.(2015b).Thelegalrecognitionofsignlanguages.SignLanguageStudies,15(4),498–506.
SignLanguageLegislationinEurope
• RecognitionbyMeansofGeneralLanguageLegislation• Latvia(1999,OfficialLanguageLaw)• Estonia(2007,LanguageAct)• Sweden(2009,LanguageAct)
• DeMeulder,M.(2015b).Thelegalrecognitionofsignlanguages.SignLanguageStudies,15(4),498–506.
SignLanguageLegislationinEurope
• RecognitionbyMeansofaSignLanguageLaworAct• Slovakia(1995,LawontheSignLanguageoftheDeaf)• Slovenia(2002,LawontheUseofSlovenianSignLanguage)• Belgium,Wallonia(2003,DecreeontheRecognitionofSign Language)• Cyprus(2006,ActontheRecognitionofCyprusSignLanguage)• Belgium,Flanders(2006,DecreeontheRecognitionofthe FlemishSignLanguage)• Catalonia(2010,Law17/2010onCatalanSignLanguage)• Finland(2015,SignLanguageAct)
• DeMeulder,M.(2015b).Thelegalrecognitionofsignlanguages.SignLanguageStudies,15(4),498–506.
SignLanguageLegislationinEurope
• RecognitionbyMeansofaSignLanguageLaworAct,includingOtherMeansofCommunication• CzechRepublic(2008,Law384/2008onthecommunication systemsofdeafanddeafblindpeople)• Spain(2007,Law27/2007,[…])• Poland(2011,ActonSignLanguageandOtherMeansof Communication)
• DeMeulder,M.(2015b).Thelegalrecognitionofsignlanguages.SignLanguageStudies,15(4),498–506.
SignLanguageLegislationinEurope
• RecognitionbyMeansofLegislationontheFunctioningoftheNationalLanguageCouncil• Denmarkhaverecognisedtheirnationalsign languagesinlegislationonthefunctioningofthe languagecouncilin2014• Lithuania(1991,LawofSocialIntegrationofDisabled People)• Germany(2002,DisabilityEqualityLaw)• Greece(2002,EducationLaw)• France(2005,EducationLaw)
• DeMeulder,M.(2015b).Thelegalrecognitionofsignlanguages.SignLanguageStudies,15(4),498–506.
Nationallegislations
Sign LanguagePolicies Languageplanning –language maintenance
Evaluation
• Preferredrecognitionmode:constitution,asthisisthemostfundamentaltextoflaw• Otherwiserecognitionincross-cuttinglanguageorspecificsignlanguagerecognitionisalsoacceptable• Recognitionintopic-specificlawsislessideal,asthisonlyrecognises thelanguageinthisoneareaoflife• Urgencytorecognise thenationalsignlanguagesintheremainingEUcountries,aslackofrecognitionconstitutessignificantbarriersforthedeaf
Signlanguageisafullyaccessiblelanguage
• oneoftheimportanttoolstoenablefullandequalparticipation ineducationandasmembersofthecommunity
• signlanguageshouldbeincludedinallspheresoftheeducationofdeafchildren:• schoollegislation• curriculum• learningmaterials• teachereducation• schoolsubjects• school/communitypractices• familysupport
Conclusion
• Needtoraiseawarenessandinfluencenationalpolicy-makingonsignlanguagerecognition• Suggestion:EUinstitutionstoadoptaguidancedocumentpresentingfeaturesofsuccessfulsignlanguagerecognitionlawtohelp‘standardisation’ofsignlanguagerecognition• Standardisation wouldfacilitatefreedomofmovementforalldeafEuropeans• ImportantthatMEPssupporttheresolutionofanewcomingresolutionofrecentBrusselsconferenceMultilingualismandequalrightsintheEU:theroleofsignlanguages leadedbydeafMPHelgaStevens
