Two papers at a sign language conference in Madrid

The Congreso Estatal de la Lengua de Signos Española (the national conference on Spanish Sign Language) was held in Madrid on 17 and 18 September 2026. Organised by the Centro de Normalización Lingüística de la Lengua de Signos Española (CNLSE), this year’s conference took as its theme “Lengua de signos y acceso a la justicia: derechos humanos en clave del siglo XXI” (sign language and access to justice: human rights for the twenty-first century).

I presented two papers. The first examines what Brazilian federal legislation establishes in relation to Libras, from legal recognition to linguistic duties. The second, co-authored with Silvana Aguiar dos Santos (Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC), presents DicasJur, a series of videos explaining legal concepts in Libras.

Both papers speak to the conference theme by treating Libras as a language in which rights are exercised and knowledge is produced, including in the training of translators and interpreters who work in legal settings. Bringing the Brazilian experience to a Spanish conference also helps research on sign languages travel from South to North, a direction that is still uncommon in the field.

Recordings of both presentations are available.