Posts by Toby 4 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Apr 2007
English (and sometimes French) are used as bridge languages by the EU since 2004, but only for simultaneous interpreting (in parliament, conferences, etc) - there aren't enough simultaneous translators trained in those languages. I don't think bridge languages are generally used for written documents, and certainly not for legal stuff.
Stop Press: EU WRITES LEGAL DOCUMENTS IN LEGAL LANGUAGE!
Register Journos Shocked:
Textual Detail Of International Treaty Is Difficult To Understand!
Give 'em a break. Compared to most international legal stuff, the EU treaties are a model of lucidity. Try this, from the Kyoto Protocol:
"If a question of implementation by a Party included in Annex I of the requirements referred to in this Article is identified in accordance with the relevant provisions of Article 8, transfers and acquisitions of emission reduction units may continue to be made after the question has been identified, provided that any such units may not be used by a Party to meet its commitments under Article 3 until any issue of compliance is resolved."
Besides, it's member countries like our own dear Britain (not "Brussels", whatever that means) who write the European treaties. And when you've got 27 governments wrangling for weeks over the precise positions of full stops and commas, legal "gibberish" is the guaranteed outcome. Better that than vague arm-waving and leaky prose.
(And "Brusselsese"? Please...)
The Court of First Instance isn't the highest appeals court in the EU. Hence its name: it's actually the FIRST court you appeal to.
The system is:
1) The European Commission issues a decision.
2) If you don't like the decision, you can appeal to the Court of First Instance.
3) If you don't like their judgement, there is a narrow range of options for further appeal to the European Court of Justice. The ECJ is the highest court (other than the European court of human rights, which doesn't seem relevant in this case!).
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