About this Event
Public Lecture: Multilingualism and Institutional Legitimacy in International Courts
Speakers: Stefaan Van Der Jeught, Official, Court of Justice of the European Union; Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and José Kukulu Kapinga Luwa, Coordinator, Situation Languages Unit of the Registry, International Criminal Court, The Hague
4:00PM October 29, 2026 (Thu)
Abstract
European Union law exists in twenty-four official languages. Unlike most international legal orders, these linguistic versions are not merely translations of an authoritative original: they are, in principle, equally authentic expressions of the same law. Multilingualism is therefore not simply a matter of communication or linguistic diversity. It forms part of the constitutional structure and legitimacy of the European legal order.This linguistic equality also creates a distinctive problem of legal interpretation. Divergences between language versions are inevitable, while national courts are not institutionally equipped to compare systematically the twenty-four authentic versions of EU legislation. The Court of Justice of the European Union consequently plays a central role in maintaining the unity of a multilingual legal order.The Court has developed a characteristic approach to such discrepancies. No single language version can automatically prevail over another. Instead, apparently divergent texts must be compared and interpreted in the light of the general scheme, context and purpose of the legislation concerned. Multilingual interpretation thus becomes closely connected with the Court’s purposive method of interpretation. Faced with several linguistic formulations, the Court seeks, in effect, a meaning that transcends the wording of any individual version: a common or “meta-linguistic” meaning capable of giving coherent effect to the rule across the Union.This contribution examines that judicial technique and the broader institutional questions it raises. The system promises citizens and Member States equality between their languages, but achieving that equality requires a supranational court capable of mediating between different linguistic texts and legal cultures. Multilingualism therefore simultaneously complicates legal interpretation and reinforces the legitimacy of the European legal order.The EU experience ultimately raises a wider question for international courts: to what extent does institutional legitimacy depend not merely on speaking to different linguistic communities, but on allowing linguistic plurality itself to shape the interpretation of the law?
Abstract
Today a question often arises on "what is the role of an interpreter of languages of lesser diffusion in an international criminal setting". How do they manage to fit in a complex judicial system like the International Criminal Court (ICC)? The speaker will build his presentation based on his 19 year-experience working at the ICC as Field Interpreter, Court interpreter and Trainer of Interpreters of languages of lesser diffusion. A working journey that gave him the opportunity to work in almost all the proceedings. The aim is to make the audience familiar with the complexity of international criminal justice and the role of the interpreter of languages of lesser diffusion. Through confidentiality-free concrete cases, he will illustrate cases to show how working within the meanders of international criminal justice, as interpreter , can lead to developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how this can affect daily life, and most of all how to cope with such psychological issues. Lastly the speaker will share the experience of terminology as a tool inside and outside the Court.
Biography
Stefaan Van der Jeught is an official at the Court of Justice of the European Union (Luxembourg) and Professor of EU Constitutional Law at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium. His research focuses in particular on EU multilingualism, language law, constitutional law and the role of language in European integration. He is the author of EU Language Law, whose second edition was published in 2025, and regularly lectures and publishes on questions of multilingualism and European Union law.
Biography
José Kukulu Kapinga Luwa is a Coordinator at the Situation Languages Unit of the Registry at the International Criminal Court (The Court) in The Hague (Netherlands). He has been a Court interpreter from 2006 to 2020 at the Court before joining the Field Interpretation Unit. After graduating in Education and reaching out to Youth with learning challenges in war-torn zones, he worked in Curriculum development projects as School Administration Officer and Youth Educationist for few years before going back to college and learning interpretation and translation. In 2006, one year after graduating he received an offer of appointment from the Court as African Languages Interpreter. He grabbed the opportunity and the privilege to interpret for the first trial ever at the ICC in the case the Prosecutor vs Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Today José Kukulu Kapinga Luwa works also internally as Presenter for official visits managed by the Public Information and Outreach Section, and outside the Court, as speaker in regional and international conferences organised by universities and Organisations focussing on Interpretation, Translation and terminology within the International Criminal Justice, mostly the ICC. As Coordinator at the Situation Languages Unit, he puts his 20 years’ experience in sourcing, recruiting, training and deploying Free-lance Field Interpreters working mostly with languages of Lesser Diffusion.
This is an in-person only event. We welcome you to sign up.
If quota via Enventbrite is full, please sign up through the link below.
https://english.hku.hk/event/617/Professor_Stefaan_Van_Der_Jeught_and_Mr._Jos%C3%A9_Kukulu_Kapinga_Luwa_-_Public_Lecture_&_Workshop
Event venue & nearby stays
Academic Conference Room, 11/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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