European Papers (May 2023)
Die Übersetzungspraxis von Verfassungsgerichten und ihr Beitrag zur deutschsprachigen Europarechtswissenschaft
Abstract
(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2023 8(1), 81-84 | European Forum Highlight of 16 May 2023 | (Abstract) German-speaking scholarship on EU law is coined, to a significant extent, by relevant decisions of constitutional courts in German-speaking countries. The translation of these decisions into other languages contributes strongly to broaden the legal discourse, as it allows also non-German-speaking members of the scientific community or of courts in other Member States to read and to reflect upon them. Against this background, in this Highlight we take a look at the translation policy of the German Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG) and the Austrian Verfassungsgerichtshof (VfGH). For the sake of comparison, we also take a look at how the French Conseil constitutionnel (CC) – as an example for a constitutional court of a non-German-speaking Member State – approaches this question. While in all three cases the number of provided translations has increased considerably over the past 25 years, it turns out that the BVerfG and the VfGH translate mostly into English. The CC, however, does not only translate (proportionally) more decisions, but also it translates them into different languages, very prominently into German, thereby inviting German-speaking scholarship and German-speaking judges to take account of it. The provision of translations by courts seems to be more than a service to ‘interested third parties’. It turns out to be a tool to pursue the specific interests of a court as well.
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