Law Toubon

The law nº 94-665 of August 4th 1994 relating to the use of the French language , more known under the name of law Toubon , Minister for the culture of the time, is a French Loi intended to protect the French linguistic inheritance.

It aims three main aims:

the enrichment of the language;
obligation to use the French language;
the defense of French as a language of the Republic (Article 2 of the Constitution of 1958).

to ensure the primacy of the French language in France where some affirm that its employment would be threatened by the extension of the English.

Description

The law Toubon is based on a provision introduced in 1992 into the Constitution: “The language of the Republic is the French” (article 2). Thus the law recognizes the right to the Citoyen French, for the legal texts, but also with paid for all that touches with the Work contract and the consuming concerning the presentation the products, the directions for use and the guarantees, to be expressed and receive any French useful information. Correlatively, it creates the obligation of a drafting in French language. This law replaces also the law n^o 51-46 of the January 11th 1951 relating to the local dialect and language teaching, known as Loi Deixonne. The law Toubon also makes following the law n^o 75-1349 of the December 31st 1975 relating to the use of the French language.

However, the law Toubon was strongly edulcorated following a recourse in front of the Constitutional council. The Council estimated that the principle of freedom of thought and expression, registered voter in article 11 of the Déclaration of the human rights and the citizen, was opposed so that the Loi fixes the precise Terminologie to employ by the organizations of Télévision or of radio or by individuals in the whole of their activities. The legislator can regulate the Vocabulaire to be used only for the Moral persons of public Droit and the people of Private law in the exercise of a mission of Public service.

Some call sometimes this law by derision “law Allgood”, all good meaning “good” in English.

Control application of the law and follow-up

There exist four types of control:

DGCCRF (1221 controls in 2004);
the Office of Checking of Publicity, for publicity;
the SCUMS, for the audio-visual communication;
defense associations of the French language (conforméménet in article 199).

Thierry Priestley is president of association the Right To include/understand, created in 1994 to supervise the application of the law Toubon. the Right To include/understand gathers several associations of promotion and defense of the French language.

Private bill of Philippe Marini

The abusive use of English in the companies involved in certain cases of the problems of communication between the direction and the employees, which involved a certain number of trade-union reactions, particularly since 2004.

The senator Philippe Marini (UMP) made a Private bill intended to reinforce the law Toubon. This proposal, adopted unanimously by the Senate in 2005, comprises provisions aiming at the companies: obligation made to the head of undertaking submit to the personnel a report/ratio on the use of the French language in the company; the French drafting of about a day of the Work's council, as well as official report consigning the deliberations.

This private bill also aims the Technologies information and the communication, the error messages for example.

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