Guillem Ferrando and Mariona Mas, winners of the award for the best undergraduate theses at the UIB in Legislation and Linguistic Rights
The jury highlights the quality and rigor of the works, which focus on the use of Catalan in public administrations and in the justice system of the Balearic Islands.
PalmStudents Guillermo Josep Ferrando de Prada and Mariona Mas París have been awarded prizes, ex aequowith the first prize for the best final degree projects (TFG) of the 2024-25 academic year in the field of Linguistic Legislation and Linguistic Rights. These awards were established for the first time by the Institute of Balearic Studies (IEB), the Faculty of Law of the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), and the Balearic Cultural Association (OCB). The winning projects analyze, from complementary perspectives, the protection of linguistic rights in the Balearic Islands and contribute new perspectives to legal research on the use of Catalan in public administration and the judiciary.
The awards ceremony took place this Monday in the Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos building at the UIB, home to the Faculty of Law. Participants included Llorenç Perelló, director of the IEB; Maria Ballester, co-director of the University Diploma in Linguistic Legislation and professor of Constitutional Law; Lluís Segura, member of the OCB; Antoni Llabrés, president of the entity; the dean of the Faculty of Law, Aina Salom, and the vice dean and coordinator of TFG, Carmen Tomàs-Valiente.
This first edition of the awards was created within the framework of the campaign Justice, also in CatalanWith the aim of fostering among UIB students knowledge of the constitutional, state, and regional regulations related to the use of their own language.
Works of "notable quality"
The jury—comprised of Llorenç Perelló, Lluís J. Segura, and Maria Ballester—valued the high quality of both research projects, both supervised by Dr. Joana Maria Socias Camacho. Guillermo Josep Ferrando's final degree project, Linguistic rights in the public administrations of the Balearic Islands and a proposal for constitutional reformand that of Mariona Mas, The Catalan language in the administration of justice in the Balearic IslandsAccording to the jury, the two works stand out for their rigorous approach and ability to address a complex subject with legal rigor and a clear focus on the effective protection of linguistic rights. The jury members also emphasized that both works contribute relevant knowledge to the debate on the regulatory framework for the use and promotion of the Catalan language in public administrations and the judicial system of the Balearic Islands.