Ramón Jessurun

• LLM in Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

After completing my LLM at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, I lived many years in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I gained experience teaching law and criminology. My work as a legal translator and instructor in legal English sparked my interest in the relationship between law and language, which led me to pursue PhD research in this field. Originally centred on language and translation in comparative constitutional law, my engagement with decolonial perspectives steered me towards the protection of linguistic diversity in international law, with a particular emphasis on indigenous languages in Mexico. I relocated to the Netherlands in 2023 and currently lecture law at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Over the years, I have taught a wide range of courses, including:

In Mexico

• Theoretical Criminology
• Legal English
• Comparative Law
• Philosophy of Law

In the Netherlands:

• Introduction to Legal Studies
• Introduction to Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Introduction to Private Law
• Introduction to Criminal Law
• Administrative Law
• Commercial Law
• EU Law
• Law of Obligations
• Property and Insolvency Law
• Public International Law
• Constitutional Law

PhD title

The Official Language Paradox: Sovereignty, Human Rights, and the Loss of Linguistic Diversity in the Postcolonial State.

Supervisors

Professor Karen McAuliffe and Dr Felix E Torres

My research examines the role of state sovereignty in the loss of linguistic diversity, with a particular focus on indigenous language rights in Mexico. Through language officialisation, the (post)colonial state excluded indigenous languages from public affairs, enacting a form of structural violence that continues to erode linguistic diversity.

Indigenous language rights are recognised in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), yet states remain free to privilege a dominant language. My research critically examines this contradiction, questioning whether contemporary human rights frameworks can effectively address the legacies of linguistic marginalisation.