The court in the city of Bastia cited France’s constitution in its ruling on Thursday that French was the only language allowed in the exercise of public office.
Corsican, which is close to standard Italian and has about 150 thousand native speakers, is considered by the UN’s cultural organization UNESCO to be in danger of becoming extinct. Thursday’s verdict ruled the Corsican assembly’s custom of allowing the Corsican language for debates was unconstitutional and therefore banned.
Beyond the language question, the court said local rules effectively establishing “the existence of a Corsican people” were also a violation of the constitution. Corsica has a fraught relationship with France’s central government, with nationalist movements having demanded more autonomy or even outright independence for several decades. French president Emmanuel Macron said last month that he had “no taboos” about reforming the status of Corsica, which is a sunny Mediterranean island beloved by holidaymakers. But he insisted that Corsica had to remain part of France.
