Problemes jurídics al voltant de la denominació de la llengua pròpia en l'Estatut d'autonomia valencià

Resum

According to Article 7 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community, Valencian is the autochthonous language of that community. Legal effects derived from this declaration empower the government of the Valencian Generalitat to regulate and promote the use of this language. However, the denomination used for the autochthonous and co-official language in the Statute of Autonomy hinders its efficient promotion. This study analyzes the meaning of the term "Valencian", a controversial topic due to lack of consensus in Valencian society; two distinct positions exist with regard to the possibility of a link between Valencian and the Catalan language. Although the issue is based on prejuridical politico-ideological foundations, its controversial nature has meant taking up legal positions. In this situation, law has taken recourse to scientific statements on the subject in order to ensure a correct interpretation and regulation. Having presented arguments leading to a legal interpretation of the term "Valencian" as referring to an integral part of the Catalan language, the author goes on the examine whether this is the interpretation that agrees most closely with the norms in which the term is used. Finally, accounts are given of a number of controversies and court cases that have arisen as a result of nominalist interpretations of the term, due to the erroneous assumption that its meaning posed no problem and to acceptance of the thesis that Valencian is a separate language from Catalan. The vagueness of the content of the word "Valencian" has, moreover, had repercussions on other legal and political controversies.