Official languages ​​within Germany

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What is important in Germany is the distinction between the basic responsibility of the 16 individual states to determine the official languages ​​within Germany based on their original cultural sovereignty , and the federal regulatory competence , which is limited to federal tasks (in its own matters) and predominates in purely quantitative terms.

The only normatively named official language in Germany at national level is German . Federal authorities in Germany usually communicate in the official language German.

The same as for the official languages ​​also applies to the legal and court languages : Federal laws and edicts are usually written in German. Through sub-standardization (ratification) of the law of the European Union , other international law and international treaties, foreign-language laws and agreements can also gain legal force in Germany (see section “Legal languages ​​within Germany”). Federal courts also usually communicate in German.

German is also the official language in all 16 countries in Germany; individual countries have other official languages. It is the same with the legal languages. In the case of sub-standardization of international law by the (federal) states, the same applies as at the federal level.

definition

In common parlance, the term official language is interpreted equally for the language of the authorities, for the legal and court language, parliamentary and school language up to a state language. The Duden defines the term as the “official language of a state, the language of legislation”, as “the language that is permitted and authoritative in international organizations for the texts of contracts, publications, etc.” and as the “(often derogatory) language of administration and authorities; dry official German ".

From a purely legal point of view, the term official language, on the other hand, only includes the language of the authorities (including other institutions for the exercise of public administration) with which they communicate with each other, with citizens, with legal entities, etc. According to Section 23 (1) VwVfG and according to the corresponding standards in most of the state administrative laws, German is the official language in Germany. Neither the Federal Administrative Procedure Act nor the state administrative laws generate a generally binding official language, but only one in the factual area covered by these laws. In factual areas in which the VwVfG does not apply or does not apply sufficiently, the competent authorities or institutions need to specify the official language in other laws (e.g. Section 87 (1 ) AO for tax administration and Section 19 (1) p. 1 SGB ​​X for the administrative procedure under social law). The same applies to the state laws.

To determine other languages ​​of legal communication - such as the language (s) of the court - there are in some cases separate standards; these other legal languages ​​are also considered here in the same way, although they should actually be legally different from the official languages. Official, legal and court languages ​​do not necessarily have to be identical, as the example of Luxembourg shows, where German is the official language, but not the legal language. In April 2014, a draft law was submitted to the German Bundestag for a resolution that provides for English as the optional language of proceedings in international commercial matters. This law would have no effect on the official languages ​​in the strict sense. There is no fixed state language in the Federal Republic of Germany or in one of the 16 federal states.

Official languages ​​in the narrower sense

State level

In Germany, at the level of constitutional law not an official language set (in the narrow sense), the federal government but simply legally standardized German as an official language for different areas of law in which it comes to its own affairs of the Federation. The responsibility for this arises from the unwritten federal competences by virtue of the nature of the matter , by virtue of a factual context or as an annex competence - while the regulatory responsibility for language definitions basically lies with the states within the framework of their cultural sovereignty (see the section below).

The Courts Constitution Act (GVG), which came into force in January 1877 , already pre-constitutionally stipulates German as the court language ( Section 184 GVG), which had a prejudicial effect on further language stipulations in Germany. In 1973, Section 23 (1) of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG) established German as the official language for administrative procedures at federal level . The norm was justified by the fact that the diverse origins of foreigners living in Germany indicate a language problem that the administration sees itself faced with. The restriction to the term “official language” will also in future make it possible to use their language in daily administrative practice when dealing with foreigners , but it is made clear that the German language remains authoritative for official pronouncements. In addition, in August 1974 the Federal Administrative Court ruled that a foreigner is not entitled to have official documents addressed to him be drawn up in his native language. Rather, he (and not the authority) would have to clarify the content of the document with the help of an interpreter if he did not have sufficient command of the German language.

For those areas in which the VwVfG does not apply or does not apply sufficiently, the competent authorities or institutions need to specify the official language in other laws, for example in Section 87 (1) of the Tax Code (AO). This means that German is the official language in tax administration proceedings with tax authorities and courts. Also § 19 para. 1 Tenth Book of the Social Code contains provision for the social management procedures, but is generous with an exemption for non-German-speaking people. According to a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court ( BVerfGE 40, 95 ), foreigners may be granted reinstatement in their previous status if no linguistically understandable instructions on legal remedies were given.

Section 35a of the Patent Act (Germany) deviates from these regulations : When filing patent applications in a foreign language, a deadline for submitting a German translation is granted, which is 12 months for English and French application documents and 3 months for other languages. Since 2011, the driver's license regulation stipulates that the theoretical driving test can be taken not only in German, but in 11 foreign languages ​​(English, French, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Croatian, Spanish, Turkish).

The European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages protects regional and minority languages within Germany , some of which are official languages ​​under the sovereignty of the respective federal states. German dialects and vernaculars are considered to be German according to the general legal understanding, but not such independent languages ​​as Luxembourgish or Yiddish , which are related to German. The commitment to the German language does not exclude the use of technical terms in foreign languages.

The German sign language is expressly recognized as a separate language, accompanying sign language are as a form of communication of the German language ( § 6 BGG ). The Communication Aid Ordinance regulates the right of hearing or speech impaired people to communicate in administrative proceedings in German sign language, with spoken-language signs or other suitable communication aids .

Level of the countries

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Apart from the purely federal tasks, in Germany according to Articles 30 and 70 of the Basic Law (see also Article 23, Paragraph 6 of the Basic Law), the legal competence to determine legally binding languages ​​and thus also official languages lies with the individual federal states - as part of the cultural sovereignty of the countries . In this area, the states are the bearers of original statehood, not the federal government. Of course, not all federal states at all and only Schleswig-Holstein have repeatedly made use of it. The official language of the authorities of the federal states can be regulated by the respective state administrative procedure law (e.g. § 23 LVwVfg Baden-Württemberg or § 82 a and b LVwG in Schleswig-Holstein); in most countries the norm is § 23 of the respective state administrative law. In Saxony, the official language is determined by Article I No. 2a of the “VwV Service Regulations”. The states of Berlin, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt do not have their own official language regulation.

The official language regulation of the individual countries is not always limited to "German". In Schleswig-Holstein, under Section 82 b LVwG SH, Low German, Frisian and Danish are expressly permitted as official languages ​​alongside Standard German; a similar regulation also exists for Frisian in Section 1 of the Frisian Act . For Danish and Frisian, the possibility of using them as optional official languages ​​is limited regionally within Schleswig-Holstein to the traditional settlement areas of the two minorities; In the district of North Friesland , all four languages ​​have official language status. In Saxony, the Sorbian language is given official language status in the Sorbian settlement area through Art. I No. 2b of the VwV service regulations and even more clearly through Section 9 of the Saxon Sorbs Act (SächsSorbG). In Brandenburg, according to Section 8 of the law on the structuring of the rights of the Sorbs / Wends in the state of Brandenburg (Sorbs / Wends Act - SWG), Sorbian is an optional official language in the traditional settlement area.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages obliges the authorities of the German states concerned to also allow correspondence in the regional languages ​​of Lower Saxony ( Low German), Frisian , Danish , Romani and Sorbian .

On the question of Low German

The German language is basically High German ( Standard German ), it also includes foreign words and technical terms as well as mathematical formulas . The fundamental question of whether only High German or also Low German should legally be subsumed under German is answered inconsistently among lawyers and in court judgments. In a decision on the submission of utility models to the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) in Low German, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) equates Low German with a foreign language and stated: "Low German (Low German) registration documents are within the meaning of Section 4a (1) sentence 1 GebrMG not written in German. ”On the other hand, according to Foerster / Friedersen / Rohde's comment on Section 82 a of the Schleswig-Holstein State Administration Act (as of 1997), German was to be understood as both High German and Low German. The Schleswig-Holstein state government shared this legal opinion. Reference was also made to decisions by higher courts to the parallel standard § 184 GVG since 1927, which concerns the language of the court , according to which Low German is also to be defined as German .

In Schleswig-Holstein the clarifying standard has § 82 b LVwG SH meanwhile, valid since July 29, 2016, the legal opinion on the status of Low German as an official language of the by insertion of (co-) subsumption as German language towards a separate language changed . In a statement for the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament , Stefan Oeter described the previous view as a makeshift construction .

Regardless of this, according to the general opinion, Low German is still regarded as a court language as part of German , as well as the official language in social proceedings according to Section 19 SGB ​​X

Court languages ​​within Germany

The term “ court language” is to be differentiated from that of the official language in the narrow legal sense (see above, section “Definition”). The term not only includes the language of negotiations and decisions; Rather, all applications, pleadings, evidence etc. must be submitted in the specified court language (s).

According to § 184 sentence 1 of the Courts Constitution Act (GVG), the language of the court is German and optionally (since the Unification Treaty with the former GDR came into force in 1990) according to sentence 2 of the norm in parts of Brandenburg and Saxony it is also Sorbian . As with the official languages ​​(there Section 23 VwVfG), Section 184 GVG is not a standard that establishes a generally binding court language. In factual areas in which the GVG does not apply, special regulations in other laws are required for the competent courts to determine the language of the court, for example in trademark law ( Section 93 Trademark Law ).

With the then § 186 GVG "The language of the court is German" (today: § 184 GVG) it was already preconstitutionally made clear in January 1877 that German should prevail over the learned language Latin . This provision raises German to the court language in all stages of proceedings in German courts. The standard covers all written and oral statements made by the court and other parties involved in the proceedings, from the documents instituting the proceedings to the judgment . Accordingly, those involved in the process are not permitted to make written statements in any other language. A partial modification of this rule has now been made by EU law (see below). The provision of § 184 GVG is mandatory to be observed ex officio and therefore evades any right of disposal of those involved in the court proceedings. Even if people appear in court who do not speak German, the principle of the German court language remains unaffected.

Courts that are not covered by the regulatory framework of the GVG dispense with their own regulation on the language of the court and refer to Section 184 of the GVG (example: Section 61 of the Social Court Act (SGG)).

Standard German as well as Low German and all dialects are defined as “German” (see section “On the question of Low German”). The addition of Yiddish (a variety of High German) and Plautdietschen (a variety of Low German) have not been decided.

The requirement of § 184 GVG to use German as the court language does not exclude the use of technical terms.

The question of whether foreign languages ​​that are protected by a state constitution in Germany (such as Danish and Frisian in Schleswig-Holstein) thus acquire the status of a (partial) court language is also open. According to the prevailing opinion in the legal literature, this does not make them the language of the court, but according to another opinion (Baumbach / Lauterbach / Albers / Hartmann, Code of Civil Procedure, § 184 GVG Rn. 2 on Frisian).

If the law of the European Union applies (Art. 84 of Regulation 1408/71; Art. 76 Paragraph 7 of Regulation EC No. 883/2004 of April 29, 2004), applications and documents can also be in other official languages ​​of all EU Countries (partial court language). According to a draft law in Germany, English is to become the partial court language in the field of international trade disputes (see above, section “Definition”).

The individual states in the Federal Republic could set their own court languages ​​for their own courts, which only have to judge state law - the state constitutional and administrative courts.

Legal languages ​​within Germany

The term legal language is also to be separated from the term official language from a purely legal point of view. At the level of the Federal Republic are federal laws , ordinances , -erlasse etc. written usually in German. There is no explicit norm for determining the legal language (s); A reference to Section 184 of the GVG shows that the drafting of the Courts Constitution Act was based on laws that were also (usually) formulated in German, especially since the GVG itself was prejudicial.

Exceptions to German-language legal texts arise occasionally from pre-constitutional legal sources and to a larger extent from the adoption of European Union law and international law.

Through sub-standardization (ratification) of the law of the European Union, other international law and international treaties, foreign-language laws and agreements can also gain legal force in Germany. The ratification laws enacted for this purpose contain the text of the agreement in the annex, which is also published in the Federal Law Gazette and then becomes legally binding.

The (probably) oldest law still valid in individual norms within Germany is the Jutian Low from 1241. It applies in parts of Schleswig-Holstein and exists in both Danish and Low German versions. It is interesting to note that these standards were retained in 1900 , primarily through Article 55 et seq. EGBGB . From the pre-constitutional period, however, individual norms from the occupation period from 1945 to 1949 could also be legally valid. As a rule, this right was published in two languages ​​at the time - such as English / German - and rarely only in the language of the occupying power concerned.

At the federal state level, bilingual laws such as the Frisian Act in Schleswig-Holstein or the Saxon Sorbs Act were passed. In the case of sub-standardization of international law, the same applies as at the federal level.

Parliament languages ​​within Germany

Even “parliamentary languages” are actually not “official languages”. At the federal level with the parliaments German Bundestag , German Bundesrat and the election committee for election of the President Federal Assembly is the parliamentary language (also: consulting or negotiating language ) German. The inclusion of Low German (like dialects, Yiddish, etc.) remains unexplained; One of the deliberations of the German Bundestag took place predominantly in Low German; in addition, the Upper Bavarian MP Matthias Kreuzeder had previously made his speeches without objection, exclusively in his native dialect. In the period that followed, there were further Low German discussions or individual contributions. In addition, MP Maria Michalk (CDU) made several speeches in her mother tongue, Sorbian .

In addition to High German, Low German is expressly permitted as the language of parliament in individual state parliaments, such as in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

School languages ​​within Germany

It is the responsibility of the individual federal states to determine the language of instruction (school laws). In addition to German-speaking schools, there are also schools in Germany in which classes are held in other languages ​​- for example the Danish schools including a Danish-Frisian school in Schleswig-Holstein, the Sorbian schools in Brandenburg and Saxony or schools such as the Berlin British School . In some subject areas at universities, it is common not to teach in German or to teach only partially in German.

Municipal level

Provided that state regulations do not conflict with this, the municipalities (municipalities, municipal associations, districts, etc.) can also provide legal validity for additional languages, for example as the official language of the authorities of the municipalities and / or their other institutions, as the language of the statutes or as the language of local parliament. For example, in some local parliaments in Germany, advice is also given in Low German, Frisian and Sorbian.

Official language of the EU countries

German is one of the 24 languages recognized as official and working languages ​​of the European Union . Of the official languages, English , French and German are the main working languages ​​used in internal communication within the EU institutions , in order to facilitate communication between the staff of the European institutions.

The introduction of English as an administrative and then as an official language in the member states of the European Union was discussed. According to a representative YouGov survey from 2013, 59 percent of Germans would have welcomed it at that time if the English language had achieved the status of an official language throughout the European Union (in addition to the previous languages); in other European countries the approval rates were sometimes over 60 percent.

The UK's exit from the EU ( Brexit ) gave a new impetus to the discussion about a uniform official language, but also shifted away from English to other languages ​​that are often spoken in the EU, even if English is second in Ireland and Malta Is the official language. Due to the loss of the United Kingdom as a net EU contributor , the not insignificant administrative cost center for translations between 24 official languages ​​for all documents came back into the discussion.

See also

References and comments

  1. ↑ official language. In: Duden.de .
  2. ↑ Bundestag printed paper 18/1287 (PDF) .
  3. ↑ Model / Müller: Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. Pocket comment. 11th edition. Carl Heymann, Cologne / Berlin / Bonn / Munich 1996, ISBN 3-452-21698-5 , Article 30, Rn. 3.
  4. ↑ BT-Drs. 7/910 of July 18, 1973, draft of an Administrative Procedure Act , p. 48 (PDF; 2.9 MB).
  5. ^ Curt Lutz Lässig: German as a court and official language. 1980, p. 13 .
  6. ↑ BVerwG, decision of August 14, 1974, Az .: IB 3.74, DÖV 1974 p. 788; Barbara Bredemeier: Communicative procedural acts in German and European administrative law. 2007, p. 222 ff.
  7. ^ Jansen, comment from Personal Office Premium .
  8. ↑ Barbara Bredemeier: Communicative procedural acts in German and European administrative law. 2007, p. 222 ff. With further references, in particular in footnotes 956, 957.
  9. ↑ VwV Service Regulations ( Memento of the original from September 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.revosax.sachsen.de
  10. ↑ § 82 b LVwG SH
  11. ↑ Art. I No. 2b of the VwV Service Regulations of Saxony: "Incoming entries in the Sorbian language are to be treated in the same way as receipts in the German language"
  12. ↑ § 9 SächsSorbG
  13. ↑ § 8 Sorbs / Wends Act - SWG
  14. ↑ Reinhard Böttcher: Commentary GVG , 2003, p. 167 ff.
  15. ^ BGH, decision of November 19, 2002, Az .: X ZB 23/01
  16. ↑ Implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ​​in Schleswig-Holstein - Language Chart Report 2007. (PDF; 693 kB) Printed matter 16/1400. Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament - 16th electoral term, March 2007, accessed on February 17, 2012 . P. 62, footnote 16.
  17. ↑ OLG Oldenburg of October 10, 1927, Az .: K 48, HRR 1928, 392: “Because according to § 184 GVG, the language of the court is German. The term 'German' also includes Low German, even if, from a philological point of view, it is not a mere dialect, but rather stands as an independent language opposite the High German language. "
  18. ↑ § 82 b LVwG SH
  19. ↑ Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament, transfer 18/5652
  20. ↑ see also: Schleswig-Holstein State Government: Action Plan Language Policy. Kiel 2015, especially p. 13.
  21. ↑ Barbara Bredemeier: Communicative procedural acts in German and European administrative law. 2007, p. 222 ff. With further references, in particular in footnotes 956, 957.
  22. ^ Jansen, comment from Personal Office Premium .
  23. ↑ BGHSt 30, 182
  24. ↑ Reinhard Böttcher: Commentary on the GVG. 2003, p. 174.
  25. ↑ Christian Kranjčić: "... that it will be faithfully and conscientiously transmitted." Mohr Siebeck, 2010, p. 15 (on interpreting in criminal proceedings).
  26. ↑ OLG Hamm of April 22, 2010 - III-2 RVs 13/10, NStZ-RR 2010, 348.
  27. ^ Comment from SGB Office Professional
  28. ↑ One example is the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages : only the English and French text versions are legally binding, while the German version is not official
  29. ↑ As an example, the law on the Kyoto Protocol of December 11, 1997 on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto Protocol) click here ( Memento from September 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  30. ↑ Consultation on the major inquiry by several members of all parties on the bilingual Bundestag printed matter 12/5355 and 12/6073 on January 14, 1998, Item 12 (Stenographic report 12th electoral period, pp. 17582 ff.) Situation of the Low German language - it was about the questions as to whether the Low German and Frisian languages ​​should be included in the European Charter of Minority and Regional Languages ​​alongside Danish and Sorbian - in detail: Wolfgang Börnsen : Low German in the German Bundestag - Wat mutt, dat mutt! Siegler Verlag, Sankt Augustin 2001, ISBN 3-87748-614-2 .
  31. ^ Note from the incumbent Bundestag Vice- President Dieter-Julius Cronenberg on Item 12 on January 14, 1998 in the German Bundestag
  32. ↑ For example, the MP Johann Saathoff partly on March 2, 2018 on the AfD request to anchor a national language German, see: German Bundestag: Mediathek: German as a national language
  33. ↑ Maria Michalk wants to continue to campaign for the Sorbian minority on bundestag.de; accessed on June 13, 2020.
  34. ↑ an example from the Hamburg citizenship with application text (application) Geiht üm: Schiller op plattdüütsch . (PDF) Printed matter 18/7833. Hamburg Citizenship - 18th electoral term, January 23, 2008, accessed on December 4, 2015 . and deliberation in the plenary session Plenary minutes of the debate on motion printed matter 18/7833 (pages 5309B – 5312D). (PDF) Printed matter 18/99. Hamburg Citizenship - 18th electoral term, February 7, 2008, accessed on December 4, 2015 .
  35. ↑ Risum Skole / Risem Schölj in Risum-Lindholm ; on this article in the Low German Wikipedia: w: nds: School Risum
  36. ↑ Survey: Majority of Germans for English as the second official language , YouGov opinion research institute, August 9, 2013
  37. ↑ on this topic: Jutta Limbach : "Plea for multilingualism in the European Union" versus Jürgen Gerhards : "Plea for the promotion of the English lingua franca", published by the Federal Agency for Civic Education on January 17, 2012 here
  38. ↑ Plea for only one official EU language - EURACTIV.de. Retrieved November 24, 2017 .