»The Expert Opinion« by the Croatian Vice-Roy Josip Jelačić Sent to the Austrian Minister of Justice (1852) on the Official Language to be Used in the Courts of Rijeka

Abstract

After reorganization of courts within the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia (1850) the question of the official language to be used in the courts of Rijeka (Rijeka, Bakar, Vinodol) became a matter at issue. Prompted by certain ambiguities about this question and a petition by 11 solicitors of Rijeka requesting that Italian should be officially used in court proceedings, Josip Jelačić, the Croatian Vice-Roy and since 1848 also a governor of Rijeka and Dalmatia, sent in 1852 his »Expert Opinion« to the Austrian Minister of Justice in which he presented his argu-ents in favour of Croatian as a language to be officially used by the courts of Rijeka. In this tier he gives a rather detailed account of the state and powers of the courts of Rijeka and the-history and describes the ethnic structure of the area, its prevailing language and local nomic conditions. Ilis main arguments are corroborated by ethnic and linguistic considerations as well as the mperor’s decision of April 7, 1850, according to which each nationality within the Empire was titled to use its own language in courts. All inhabitants of Rijeka, he argues, speak Croatian as their mother tongue, whilst Italian is spoken only by the educated sections of the community d merchants. Besides, Croatian is the only language spoken and understood by people living in the surrounding areas of the city of Rijeka. lie suggests that Italian should be confined to iw-suits involving commercial and maritime affairs. The author also presents a Croatian translation of the original document written in German and kept at the Scientific Library of Zadar.