Universities and the legal profession join forces to strengthen the Catalan language with the Compendium.cat portal.

• The digital tool seeks to standardise the use of the Catalan language in the field of law, both in academic areas and in the administration and professional sectors.
• The project, promoted by the Catalan Bar Council, aims to transform legal training and practice in Catalan with the collaboration of the universities of the Vives Network.

22.10.2024. The Faculty of Law of the University of Barcelona has hosted the presentation and act of adhesion of the universities of the Vives Network to the Compendium.cat portal. The main objective of the digital tool, an initiative of the Catalan Bar Council, is to promote the use and quality of legal language in Catalan, as well as to increase the presence of the Catalan language in areas such as the Administration of Justice or the notary's office, which register very low percentages of use. The event, which brought together numerous personalities from the academic, political and social spheres, was attended by the Catalan Minister of Justice and Democratic Quality, Ramon Ribagorçana, and the Catalan Minister of Linguistic Policy, Francesc Xavier Vila.

The president of the Vives University Network and rector of the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Josep-Eladi Baños, opened the event. Baños explained how Compendium.cat is not only an academic or professional resource, but also a tool for educational and social transformation. ‘Compendium reflects the collaboration and commitment of the universities that make up the Vives Network in the promotion and strengthening of the Catalan language in all spheres of society,’ added the president.
The President of the Catalan Bar Council and Dean of the Bar Association of Tortosa, Marta Martínez i Gellida, then spoke, highlighting the success of the portal as a result of the ‘transversal collaboration between the more than 30 institutions and entities that form part of Compendium.cat and that are committed to the Catalan language through their membership’. ‘The involvement today of the universities of the Vives Network consolidates the maturity of the project as a strategic and useful tool, not only for professional practice, but also in the world of teaching,’ said Martínez.

Josep Monserrat Molas, Vice-Rector for Language Policy at the University of Barcelona, thanked the Vives Network and the Catalan Bar Council for having chosen the Faculty of Law of the UB to hold the event. Monserrat expressed his support for the initiative, highlighting the work of the Language Services and the Faculties of Law, Philology and Translation and Interpreting in promoting Catalan in the legal field.
The Catalan Minister of Justice and Democratic Quality, Ramon Ribagorçana, expressed his thanks to the Catalan Bar Council for the initiative, acknowledging the collaboration of the universities which, committed to strengthening the presence of Catalan in the legal sphere, ‘enrich the portal, open up the range, and make it better known and more accessible’. ‘What we are doing today has a value that goes far beyond the instrumental: we are providing more resources, thus normalising the situation of Catalan’, the Catalan Minister stressed.

For his part, the Catalan Minister for Language Policy, Francesc Xavier Vila, highlighted how this alliance between universities and the legal profession will help to reverse the precarious situation of the Catalan language in the field of law. ‘This tool helps to improve knowledge of the language, to make it easier to use and to make institutions set an example,’ added the Catalan government's Minister for Language Policy.
During the event, attendees had the opportunity to learn about how Compendium.cat works and the opportunities it offers for students, academics and legal professionals, with a presentation by David Casellas Roca, president of the Language Commission of the Catalan Bar Council and dean of the Manresa Bar Association, and Anna Arnall Duch, PhD in language sciences and head of the portal. In addition, Mercè Lorente, lecturer at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and member of the Philology Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC), gave a talk on language resources for current and future law professionals.

Finally, the event was an opportunity for the universities of the Vives Network to sign up to the portal by signing a collaboration agreement between the universities themselves and the Catalan Bar Council, which will enable the transfer of resources and ongoing collaboration between the two institutions to promote the Catalan language in the legal sphere.

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