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Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2017 pp 411–431Cite as

Recognition of Sign Language Under International Law: A Case Study of Dutch Sign Language in the Netherlands

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Part of the book series: Netherlands Yearbook of International Law ((NYIL,volume 48))

Abstract

Dutch Sign Language is a standardized language used by deaf and non-deaf people in the Netherlands. The government supports and promotes Dutch Sign Language, but it has not been recognized as an official language in the Netherlands, which is very much desired by the deaf community in the Netherlands. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was ratified by the Netherlands in 2016, gave a new impetus to the supporters of recognition of Dutch Sign Language, and the same year a bill was proposed by two members of the lower house of the Dutch Parliament. National sign languages have been officially recognized by other European states, but the Netherlands holds that a formal recognition of Dutch Sign Language is not necessary. Therefore, a closer examination of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities might shed some light on the question of the recognition of a national sign language.

Kika Meereboer has been deaf since she was two years old. Swen Meereboer is her younger brother.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Dutch, ‘Nederlandse Gebarentaal’ (NGT) is commonly written with capital letters although this has not been decided officially. In the English language the national sign languages are written with capital letters, for example American Sign Language (ASL) or British Sign Language (BSL).

  2. 2.

    Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, A/RES/61/106 (24 January 2007), 2515 UNTS 3 (‘CRPD’).

  3. 3.

    Kamerstukken II 2016/2017, 34 562, nr. 2.

  4. 4.

    Ibid., at 4.

  5. 5.

    Schuyler 1910, as cited in Sacks 1989.

  6. 6.

    De Meulder 2005, at 17.

  7. 7.

    Ibid., at 18–19.

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    Total Communication is described as using all communication means. The child can communicate through gestures, spoken language, objects, drawings, photographs, and pictograms with the environment (http://www.rafaelschool.nl, accessed 20 December 2017).

  10. 10.

    Dutch supported gestures (SSD) is not a natural language of deaf people. It is not a real language with its own grammar and lexicon, but it is derived from Dutch and Dutch Sign Language.

  11. 11.

    Deaf culture is the term used to indicate people who are cultural deaf as opposed to people who are deaf from a medical perspective. The word ‘Deaf’ is written with capital D if it is used in the cultural sense of the word.

  12. 12.

    A cochlear implant (CI) is a medical electronic device that is surgically implanted around the cochlear or the inner ear. As digital codes are transmitted from an external sound processor to the cochlear implant, this device can directly stimulate the cochlear nerve. As a result, cochlear implants can provide hard of hearing or even deaf people with a sense of sound.

  13. 13.

    CODA, an abbreviation of ‘Child of Deaf Adults’, is used to denote hearing children of deaf parents. CODAs grow up in a particular family situation. These children are often bilingual, with sign language as the second (mother) language next to the spoken language.

  14. 14.

    In 1960 an American linguist, William Stokoe, worked at Gallaudet University and discovered that sign language was more than just pantomime (see Van den Bogaarde 2014, at 13).

  15. 15.

    Kamerstukken II 2016/2017, 34 562, nr. 2, at 4.

  16. 16.

    See the English version of the website of the Dutch Sign Centre, https://en.gebarencentrum.nl/, accessed 20 December 2017.

  17. 17.

    See for a non-exhaustive list of legislation on Sign Language and Deaf culture (in Dutch), Kamerstukken II 2016/17, 34 562, nr. 2, at 6–7.

  18. 18.

    Kamerstukken II 2003/2004, 32 805, nr. 51.

  19. 19.

    1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 213 UNTS 221, Articles 5–6.

  20. 20.

    Het Wetboek van Strafvordering, Article 131b.

  21. 21.

    De Meulder 2015, at 504.

  22. 22.

    The European Union for the Deaf, http://www.eud.eu, accessed 20 December 2017.

  23. 23.

    European Parliament, Resolution on sign languages for the deaf, OJ C 187/236, 18 July 1988.

  24. 24.

    European Parliament, Resolution on sign languages, OJ C 379/66, 7 December 1998.

  25. 25.

    European Parliament, Resolution on sign languages and professional sign language interpreters, 2016/2952(RSP), 23 November 2016.

  26. 26.

    Baker et al. 1997, at 81.

  27. 27.

    1992 European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, ETS 148.

  28. 28.

    Handelingen II 1995–1996, nr. 15, at 1026–1027.

  29. 29.

    Kamerstukken II 2016/2017, 34 562, nr. 2, at 4.

  30. 30.

    Besluit Instelling Commissie Gebarentaal, Stb. 1996, nr. 34, at 7.

  31. 31.

    Baker et al. 1997, at 78–83.

  32. 32.

    Ibid., at 85.

  33. 33.

    For an overview of states recognizing their national sign languages, see De Meulder 2015.

  34. 34.

    Kamerstukken II 2003/2004, 29 200 XVI, nr. 62.

  35. 35.

    Kamerstukken II 2003/2004, 28 600 XVI, nr. 85.

  36. 36.

    Kamerstukken II 2003/2004, 29 200 XVI, nr. 249, at 2.

  37. 37.

    Kamerstukken II 2007/2008, 31 200, nr. 178, at 3.

  38. 38.

    1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1155 UNTS 331 (‘VCLT’).

  39. 39.

    UNGA Resolution 56/168, 19 December 2001, Comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.

  40. 40.

    First Session, 29 July to 9 August 2002; Second Session, 16 to 27 June 2003; Third Session, 24 May to 4 June 2004; Fourth Session, 23 August to 3 September 2004; Fifth Session, 24 January to 4 February 2005; Sixth Session, 1–12 August 2005; Seventh Session, 16 January to 3 February 2006; and Eighth Session, 14–25 August and 5 December 2006. For all documents, see http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/adhoccom.htm, accessed 20 December 2017.

  41. 41.

    Bangkok recommendations on the elaboration of a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, Outcome of an expert group meeting and seminar held in Bangkok at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific from 2 to 4 June 2003, A/AC.265/2003/CRP/10.

  42. 42.

    Ibid., para 29.

  43. 43.

    Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, Bangkok Draft: Proposed Elements of a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 17 October 2003, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/bangkokdraft.htm, accessed 20 December 2017.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., Article 30.

  45. 45.

    Member organizations of this Alliance are Disabled Peoples’ International, Inclusion International, Rehabilitation International, World Blind Union, World Federation of the Deaf, World Federation of the Deaf-Blind, and the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry.

  46. 46.

    Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, Chair’s Draft Elements of a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, December 2003, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgcontrib-chair1.htm#27, accessed 20 December 2017, Article 27. See also Articles 2, 15 and 24.

  47. 47.

    Landmine Survivors Network (2004) Daily summary of working group discussions related to the draft article on freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information, 8 January 2004, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgsuma13.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  48. 48.

    Ibid.

  49. 49.

    Ibid.

  50. 50.

    World Federation of the Deaf (2004) Comments on the draft text: Draft Article 3: Definitions, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgdca3#wfd.htm, accessed 20 December 2017.

  51. 51.

    Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, Report of the Working Group to the Ad Hoc Committee, Annex I: Draft articles for a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, A/AC.265/2004/WG.1, 27 January 2004, Article 13.

  52. 52.

    Ibid.

  53. 53.

    Ontario Human Rights Commission (2004) Comments on the draft text: Draft Article 13: Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgdca13.htm#ohrc, accessed 20 December 2017.

  54. 54.

    World Federation of the Deaf (2004) Comments on the draft text: Draft Article 13: Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgdca13.htm#wfd, accessed 20 December 2017.

  55. 55.

    Ibid.

  56. 56.

    Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, Working Group, Report of the Working Group to the Ad Hoc Committee, Annex I, 2004, Article 24. The Working Group added a footnote, footnote 109, stating that ‘The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider whether this provision would be more appropriately placed under another draft article’.

  57. 57.

    Landmine Survivors Network (2004) Daily Summary related to Draft Article 24: Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport, 13 January 2004, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgsuma24.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  58. 58.

    Landmine Survivors Network (2004) Comments on the draft text: Draft Article 24: Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgdca24.htm#lsn, accessed 21 December 2017.

  59. 59.

    Ontario Human Rights Commission (2004) Comments on the draft text: Draft Article 24: Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgdca24.htm#ohrc, accessed 21 December 2017.

  60. 60.

    Landmine Survivors Network (2004) Daily summary of discussions related to Article 13: Freedom of Expression and Opinion, and Access to Information, 27 May 2004, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc3sum13.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  61. 61.

    Ibid.

  62. 62.

    Rehabilitation International (2005) Daily summary of discussion at the fifth session, 1 February 2005, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc5sum1feb.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  63. 63.

    Rehabilitation International (2005) Daily summary of discussion at the fifth session, 3 February 2005, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc5sum3feb.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  64. 64.

    UNGA, Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on its fifth session, A/AC.265/2005/2, 23 February 2005, paras 87–88.

  65. 65.

    Rehabilitation International (2006) Daily summary of discussion at the seventh session, 20 January 2006, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7sum20jan.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  66. 66.

    Landmine Survivors Network (2004) Daily summary of discussions related to Article 24: Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport, 2 June 2004, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc3sum24.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  67. 67.

    Ibid.

  68. 68.

    Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, Sixth Session, Text of the Facilitator: Article 5: Promotion of positive attitude to persons with disabilities (Revised draft prepared by the Facilitator), 8 August 2005, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc6facilitator.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  69. 69.

    UNGA, Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, A/60/266, 17 August 2005, paras 141–142.

  70. 70.

    Rehabilitation International (2006) Daily summary of discussion at the seventh session, 24 January 2006, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7sum24jan.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  71. 71.

    Rehabilitation International (2006) Daily summary of discussion at the seventh session, 27 January 2006, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7sum27jan.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  72. 72.

    Ibid.

  73. 73.

    Ibid.

  74. 74.

    Ibid.

  75. 75.

    Rehabilitation International (2006) Daily summary of discussion at the seventh session, 31 January 2006, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7sum31jan.htm, accessed 21 December 2017.

  76. 76.

    Draft Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Draft Optional Protocol, third revised text of 10 October 2006.

  77. 77.

    Ibid., footnote 27.

  78. 78.

    UNGA, Final report of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, and Annex, Draft resolution on a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, A/61/611, 6 December 2006.

  79. 79.

    Rijkswet houdende goedkeuring van het op 13 december 2006 te New York tot stand gekomen Verdrag inzake de rechten van personen met een handicap, Trb. 2007, 169 en Trb. 2014, 113.

  80. 80.

    Kamerstukken II 2013/14, 33 992 (R2034), nr. 3 (MvT II).

  81. 81.

    Ibid., at 68.

  82. 82.

    Ibid., at 92.

  83. 83.

    Ibid., at 7.

  84. 84.

    Wet van 2 oktober 2013, houdende regels met betrekking tot het gebruik van de Friese taal in het bestuurlijk verkeer en in het rechtsverkeer (Wet gebruik Friese taal), Stb. 2013, 515.

  85. 85.

    1995 Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, ETS 157.

  86. 86.

    Kamerstukken II 2011/2012, 33 335, nr. 3 (MvT II), at 2.

  87. 87.

    PvdA (2017) Een verbonden samenleving: Verkiezingsprogramma 2017, https://www.pvda.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/PvdAVerkiezingsprogramma2017EenVerbondenSamenleving.pdf, accessed 21 December 2017, at 50; Christenunie (2016) Hoopvol realistisch, Voorstellen voor samenleving met een toekomst: Verkiezingsprogramma 2017–2021, 26 November 2016, https://www.christenunie.nl/l/library/download/1047759, accessed 21 December 2017, at 12.

  88. 88.

    Kamerstukken II 2003/2004, 28 600 XVI, nr. 85.

  89. 89.

    Kamerstukken II 2016/2017, 34 562, nr. 2, at 2.

  90. 90.

    Kamerstukken II 2007/2008, 31 200, nr. 178, at 3.

  91. 91.

    Baker et al. 1997, at 84–85.

  92. 92.

    Kamerstukken II 2010/2011, 32 522, nr. 4.

  93. 93.

    De Meulder 2014, at 12.

  94. 94.

    For the petition, see Petities.nl, Tijd voor erkenning van de Nederlandse Gebarentaal, https://petities.nl/petitions/tijd-voor-erkenning-van-de-nederlandse-gebarentaal?locale=nl, accessed 21 December 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Swen Meereboer & Kika Meereboer

  2. Department of International and European Law, Utrecht University School of Law, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Otto Spijkers

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  1. Swen Meereboer
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  2. Kika Meereboer
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  3. Otto Spijkers
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Correspondence to Swen Meereboer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Fabian Amtenbrink

  2. Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Denise Prévost

  3. Centre for European Studies, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Ramses A. Wessel

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Meereboer, S., Meereboer, K., Spijkers, O. (2018). Recognition of Sign Language Under International Law: A Case Study of Dutch Sign Language in the Netherlands. In: Amtenbrink, F., Prévost, D., Wessel, R. (eds) Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2017. Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, vol 48. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-243-9_13

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