But can an institution be truly multilingual? And what implications might multilingualism have on the work of such institutions? Many international organisations have multiple official languages, and carry out their functions through multilingual legal and political institutions. Multilingualism underpins much of this globalised legal work. The intense progress of globalisation in the latter half of the 20th century has led to a rapid increase in the production of international treaties and agreements, the creation of international courts, as well as reliance on international arbitration.
Nowhere is this more important than in the regulation of that global society. The 21st of February marks UN International Mother Language Day: a day that aims to remind us of the importance of safeguarding linguistic diversity and recognises the value of multilingualism at all levels of contemporary global society.
