• Seized by the prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales, the administrative court of Montpellier annulled the authorization, taken by the municipal councils of five municipalities of the department, to deliberate in Catalan.
  • The court considers that the use of a regional language by municipal councillors to present draft deliberations and to debate and use French only as a translation is contrary to article 2 of the Constitution and the Toubon law of 1994.
  • Several municipalities have announced their intention to appeal this judgment. In particular, they consider that the use of Catalan in the debates does not call into question the primacy of French as the language of the Republic.

"City council meetings must first be held in French, and the use of the Catalan language is permitted in translation." Seized by the prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales, Rodrigue Furcy, the administrative court of Montpellier canceled the authorization, taken by the municipal councils of five municipalities of the department, to deliberate in Catalan. In April 2022, Elne, followed by the municipalities of Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda, Tarerach, Saint-André and Port-Vendres had, in turn, modified their internal regulations. This is to allow debates in Catalan, with an immediate translation into French.

The court held that the use of a regional language by municipal councillors to present draft deliberations and to debate and use French only as a translation was contrary to article 2 of the Constitution. Which, based on the ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539, stipulates that "the language of the Republic is French". As well as Article 1 of the Toubon Law of 4 August 1994 which states that "(...) The French language is a fundamental part of the personality and heritage of the France. It is the language of education, work, exchanges and public services."

"A significant step forward for regional languages"

Matthieu Pons-Serradeil, a lawyer for three of the five municipalities attacked by the prefect, sees in this judgment "two new lessons compared to all the decisions rendered so far concerning the use of regional languages in deliberative assemblies. The annulment is not based on the undemocratic nature of the use of Catalan, as may have been the case with judgments concerning other regional languages. The second is that, in the name of the primacy of the French language, French cannot be a language of translation. Catalan may be a language of translation, but not the main language. This brings the use of regional languages into the debates of a deliberative assembly, it is a significant step forward."

Nevertheless, at least four mayors of the five municipalities (that of Saint-André has not yet decided) have announced their intention to appeal this judgment to the Administrative Court of Appeal of Toulouse. "This decision is open to criticism because the Constitution establishes primacy, which does not mean primacy. It is the deliberations that create the law, not the debates. However, the deliberations are written exclusively in the French language, resumes the lawyer. Moreover, the deliberations that were debated in Catalan and written in French were not cancelled, what was cancelled was the modification of the rules of procedure authorizing debates in Catalan".

Three months to comply with this decision

For Matthieu Pons-Serradeil, the Toubon law of 1994 does not justify the decision of the administrative court. "The judges relied on this law, which specifies that the language of public services is French. But a deliberative assembly is not a public service, it is an institution. Moreover, in local elections, persons of foreign nationality can stand and be elected. They are not required to speak French in the organizations to which they have been elected."

As the appeal does not have suspensive effect, the elected representatives of the five municipalities have three months to modify the rules of procedure of their municipal council.


  • Justice
  • Constitution
  • French
  • Montpellier
  • Hérault
  • Occitania
  • Languedoc-Roussillon
  • Regional languages
  • Perpignan
  • Pyrénées-Orientales