On The Rights Of Minorities To Use Their Own Language And To An Interpreter In Proceedings

Language, in both its oral or written form, is the most direct and effective way for human beings to express their ideas and appeals, to enjoy their legal rights and protect their legal interests. With the development of Judicial Reform process, the right of all minorities in China to use their own oral language or traditionally used characters in the litigation has drawn much more attention of Chinese academia and departments of judicial practice. China is an old nation of multiple minorities and languages in which there is Han people and other 55 ethnic minorities. Oral or written language of each minority is so precious intangible cultural heritage that has been developed and accumulated through thousands of years, which embodies a concentrated reflection of the minority’s value system, ideas, traditional life styles and customs, religious beliefs and living environment. It is the main manifestation of their own outlook on world, life and values as well as an indispensable bridge for members of the ethnic minority to participate effectively in social public life, governmental decision-making process and litigation proceedings.From the perspective of how minority parties and other participants in Yunnan province take part in criminal, civil and administrative proceedings, this paper will examine the basic right of ethnic minorities in China to use their own oral or written language in a lawsuit and the right to a free interpreter in case that any minority party or participant is not familiar with the spoken or written language used in the proceeding.The first part will mainly analyze the relationship between language (oral or written) and litigation, particularities of minority languages and the basic language right of minorities in the litigation. The second part will study these provisions concerning the language right of ethnic minorities in the proceedings and the right to an interpreter in the Constitution, the Criminal Procedure Law, the Civil Procedure Law, the Administrative Procedure Law and the Regional National Autonomy Law of China. The third part will be mostly based on my field research in Luquan Basic Court, Dali Municipal Court, Nanjian Basic Court, Shuangjiang Basic Court and Lincang Municipal Procuratorate to explore how and to what degree the right of linguistic minority parties and other participants to use their own language in the proceedings and the right to an interpreter are safeguarded, and what kind of problems still exist to be settled in judicial practice. The forth part will put forward some possible approaches to have such unalienable language rights effectively protected.