Toni Schiavone will face a third trial for refusing to pay an English-only parking charge notice
Language campaigner Toni Schiavone will face a third trial on Friday 26 January for refusing to pay an English-only parking charge notice.
Dismissing the Welsh language
According to campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith, translating the notice, and avoiding the three court cases over a period of three and a half years, would have cost between £60 and £70.
Schiavone received the original notice in September 2020 for not paying for parking in a car park in Llangrannog, Wales. Although the court case has already been thrown out twice, parking company One Parking Solution is once again appealing over the notice. The company failed to be present for the first case and the second case was thrown out of court as it was introduced late and under the wrong conditions.
Speaking ahead of his trial, Schiavone said:
If One Parking Solution provided me with a Welsh copy of the notice as many other parking companies already do, I would be fully prepared to pay it. Instead, they insist on taking me to court again and again to try to force me to pay the notice in English.
According to the company, since I understand English, they don’t need to respect my right to use my own language in my own country. It is utterly offensive.
read more: https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2024/01/24/welsh-court-case-parking-fine/
If it were another language, maybe it’d just be some guy trying to get out of a ticket; but my understanding (limited, as I’m an American) is that the Welsh have been fighting hard for a long time to preserve their language. So, good on him!
What it basically comes down to is there are several native languages in the United Kingdom - English, Welsh, Gaelic, Scots, Cornish and more - but only English is respected on the whole.
He’s not even asking for every ticket to come in both languages, just to be sent one in Welsh when asked for. I think it should be a legal requirement to provide any document in any home language requested, personally.
There’s no official language by law and English is de facto the official language for the whole country. There’s a caveat though and it’s that Wales made Welsh an official language in their part of the country, hence the ability for this man to ask for a ticket in Welsh and the possibility that the company will lose their case.
If there’s still disagreement…
Depuis ce moment, on va enforcer la loi du Pays de Galles seulement en français.