Language law expert appointed to Bòrd na Gàidhlig

Robert Dunbar has been professor of Celtic at the University of Edinburgh since June 2013.

He is an expert of the Council of Europe in relation to minority language issues, and since February 2023, he has been a member of the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, a Council of Europe treaty.

He has also worked with the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe in relation to language law and language policy. He has frequently advised governments, language policy bodies and NGOs on language legislation for minority language, including the Welsh Academy in relation to the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

Professor Dunbar holds a PhD in Celtic from the University of Edinburgh, on the life and secular poetry of John MacLean (1787-1848), the Tiree and Nova Scotia Gaelic poet, as well as an LLM from the London School of Economics, an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, and a BA from the University of Toronto.

The other appointees to the board are John MacDonald, Michelle Macleod and Donald MacPhee.