Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1989, Page 76

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RÆTTARMÁLIÐ í FØROYUM
Heimildir:
Andersen, N.: Færøerne 1600-1709. Tórshavn
1964.
Debes, Hans Jacob: Nú er tann stundin... Tórs-
havn 1982.
Diplomatarium Færoense. Utg. J. Jakobsen.
Tórshavn (Kph.) 1907.
Føroyingasøga.
Harder, Kirsten: De dansk-færøske forhold 1945-
48. Odense 1979.
Løgtingstíðindi.
Mitens, Edw.: Eg minnist. Løgtingsmaður 1916-
1939. Tórshavn 1966
Mitens, Edw.: Eg minnist. Skrivstovustjóri løg-
tingsins. Tórshavn 1969.
Waag, Einar: Val og valtøl 1906-1966. Klaksvík
1967. v
Zachariassen, Louis: Føroyar sum rættarsam-
felag 1535-1655. Tórshavn 1961.
Summary
Originally there was no doubt about the
language of law in the Faroe Islands. The
language people spoke was also used in the
context of legal proceedings.
At some point in the late Middle Ages,
probably around the time of the Refor-
mation, this changed, and Danish became
the sole language of law.
When the Danish law of 1919 concerning
judicial process came into effect in the Faroe
Islands, the question of using Faroese as the
language of law was raised. The result was
that, in 1943, Faroese was recognised as a
valid language of law, but on equal footing
with Danish.
After the Home Government act was pas-
sed in 1948, there was still no change in the
status of Faroese as the language of law, and
many years went by before the matter was
discussed again. When the law of judicial
process was last under parliamentary review,
in the mid-1980's, the question of the langu-
age of law was discussed. This resulted in a
change in the wording of article 149 in the
law of judicial process concerning the langu-
age of law, such that it now agrees with the
wording in the Home Government act.
In praxis this has probably not led to any
significant changes so far, but it is never-
theless a recognition of the fact that the
Faroese language should be used in the
context of legal proceedings to a much
greater extent than has been the case until
now.
Jógvan Andreassen
Føroya rættur
FR-100 Tórshavn