Valencian court overturns university's Valencian-only staff rule

The Valencian High Court has struck down a University of Valencia rule that required internal staff communications to be issued only in Valencian. The final judgment, notified to the parties on Thursday, says employees must be free to choose Spanish or Valencian without extra procedures or restrictions.

The annulled wording was added in June 2023 to Article 10 of the university’s Language Use Regulations, approved in 2014. It made Valencian the sole language for documents and messages sent to staff, citing employees’ duty to know the institution’s own language.

Why the court annulled the clause

The Special Section of the court’s Contentious-Administrative Chamber ruled that exclusive use of Valencian placed it above Spanish, even though both are official languages in the region. Four of the five judges found that this conflicted with regional law requiring equal treatment of the two languages.

The majority also relied on decisions by Spain’s Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and another section of the Valencian High Court. Those rulings prevent conditions or obstacles being placed on the use of Spanish.

A general statement in the university agreement said recognised language rights would be respected. The court found that safeguard too broad to correct the imbalance created by the Valencian-only clause.

Staff may therefore receive internal communications in either co-official language. The university cannot make that choice depend on a formal request, an additional burden or another requirement that restricts the right.

How the case reached a final ruling

Several University of Valencia professors brought a regional cassation appeal. The Special Section partly upheld it, reversed a 2024 judgment by the High Court’s Second Section and confirmed the earlier decision of Valencia’s former Contentious-Administrative Court No. 5.

One judge dissented. That judge would have given the university time to amend its rules, allowing staff to request Spanish replies to their own submissions and translations of documents. The other four judges rejected that narrower remedy and annulled the clause outright.

Decision applies to staff only

The court did not accept a separate request covering students and members of the public who deal with the university. It said those groups were outside the scope of the agreement under challenge.

The judgment therefore settles the language rule for internal staff communications, but does not extend the same right to students or the wider public. As a final ruling, it cannot be appealed.

Source: General Council for the Judiciary.