Linguistic Diversity and the Law (LAW296H1S)

Linguistic diversity is a feature of most human societies. Yet, much of our legal culture is shaped by the image of the relatively centralized monolingual legal system produced by Western European modern nation states. This obscures the fact that legal systems around the world have adapted in different ways to the fact that the populations governed by them are linguistically diverse. The course will explore the various ways in which legal systems make it possible for linguistically heterogeneous populations to live together under law. The course will cover topics such as the notion of language regimes, the role of language in state formation processes and sovereignty, the theoretical foundations of official languages and language rights, the relation between language and the politics of constitutional design, the basic features of Canada’s language legislation, Indigenous languages and their legal status, protection and revitalization, multilingualism in courts and court proceedings, and principles of multilingual interpretation of statutes and treaties. Throughout, the course compares and contrasts the Canadian experience with that of other jurisdictions. Selected readings from other disciplines such as comparative politics, sociolinguistics, political philosophy, and global history are used to shed light on the legal issues examined, though no prior knowledge in any of these disciplines is required.