What the law really says about English names for colleges: nothing

The controversy surrounding the use of English names for the organic units of Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) has been widely discussed in recent weeks. While many colleagues advocate for the international recognition that English names can provide, I wish to highlight two legal points. Firstly, the constitutional flexibility allowing UNL's units to use either Portuguese or English names supports their national and international standing. Secondly, the Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions (RJIES) does not mandate a specific language for the names of university units, meaning that the law does not restrict the use of English. The RJIES specifies that universities must have a unique name in Portuguese, but this does not extend to their organic units, which can adopt various designations. Therefore, it is legally incorrect to apply the Portuguese language requirement to these units. In practice, all UNL units have bilingual names, and it is unreasonable to expect them to choose one language over the other. The sensible solution is to trust the units to determine the most effective language for their educational and research missions, as UNL aims to serve society at local, regional, and global levels with an international profile in education and research.