Decision on the Language of the Federal Court Judgment in a Procedure of a Romansh-speaking Municipality against the Canton of Graubünden

Facts

The Government of the Canton of Graubünden only partially approved the Citizenship Act of the Civic Community of Scuol dated 8 March 1995. Against this decision, the Civic Community of Scuol filed a constitutional appeal with the Federal Court. The Federal Court decided that its judgment in this case shall be drafted in Romansh (Rumantsch Grischun) pursuant to Art. 116 para. 4 of the Federal Constitution and Art. 37 para. 3 of the Federal Judiciary Act. This is because Romansh is an official language of the Confederation for communication with Romansh-speaking persons, and the present case represents such communication between the Confederation and a Romansh-speaking municipality, in which the Canton of Graubünden also uses Romansh as an official language.

Considerations

The Federal Court explains that according to the legal provisions, all legal documents for the Federal Court must be drafted in an official national language, and the Federal Court judgment is generally drafted in the language of the contested decision. Until the introduction of Art. 116 para. 4 of the Federal Constitution, Romansh-speaking persons had the right to address the Federal Court in their language, but had no claim to a judgment in Romansh, as Romansh was not an official language of the Confederation at the time.

With the adoption of Art. 116 para. 4 Cst. in 1996, Romansh became an official…