The Centre for Constitutional Law Studies (CCLS), JGLS is delighted to host a Paper Discussion with:

Prof. Rupavardhini Balakrishnan Raju, 
Lecturer in Administrative Law at Trinity College University of Oxford 
who will be discussing their paper, 
"Language Status in Constitutional Design: Framework and Terminology" 

Time: 6:30 PM 
Date: 10th April 2025
Venue: Zoom Link https://zoom.us/j/92904248181?pwd=kHwagqlF2u5sE8ZnwM9haT3nKBxdoE.1

About the Speaker: Professor Rupavardhini is a DPhil candidate at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford and a Lecturer in Law at Trinity College, Oxford. Her current research is in constitutional theory studying the links between nationalism, language, and constitutional identity. Her broad research interests lie in the intersection of public law and politics, constitutional democracy, and accountability institutions. Her teaching interests are in Administrative Law, Constitutional Law and Theory, and Jurisprudence. She is the founding co-convenor of the Law and Democracy Network at the Faculty of Law. Prior to beginning her DPhil, she was a civil servant in the Government of India. Rupavardhini holds a Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Juridical Sciences. Kolkata and an LL.M from Harvard University where she was a Fulbright Scholar. 

About the Paper: At least 148 constitutions contain provisions relating to an ‘official’ or ‘national’ language. Most of the remaining countries have a declared official language even if the decision is not constitutionalized. Empirically it appears that allocating a language or languages status in the polity by using designations such as ‘official language’ appears to be the norm. With language being a significant driver of conflict in many countries, the importance of constitutional design choices on language is high. However, for a choice so ubiquitous and significant, there is a high degree of semantic confusion regarding the terms used in designating language status in constitutional design and policy. In this interdisciplinary paper I offer a constitutional design toolkit of concepts and terminologies on language status drawing from the literature on language planning and policy to bring greater clarity to the topic of language status in constitution making.

DISCUSSANTS: 

1. Prof. (Dr.) Sarbani Sen, Professor & Director, Centre for Constitutional Law Studies, JGLS
2. Prof. (Dr.) Alexander Fischer, Adjunct Professor, Shiv Nadar University, Chennai 

MODERATOR: 
Prof. Ishan Vijay Avadhanam, Lecturer and Research Fellow, Centre for Constitutional Law Studies, JGLS. 

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