[ExI] Non-European PhDs In Germany Find Use Of 'Doktor' Verboten

[Stefano Vaj]

On Sat, Mar 15, 2008 at 7:03 PM, John Grigg <possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com> wrote:
> At least seven U.S. citizens working as researchers in Germany have faced
> criminal probes in recent months for using the title "Dr." on their business
> cards, Web sites and r¿sum¿s. They all hold doctoral degrees from elite
> universities back home.
>
> Under a little-known Nazi-era law, only people who earn PhDs or medical
> degrees in Germany are allowed to use "Dr." as a courtesy title.
>
> The law was modified in 2001 to extend the privilege to degree-holders from
> any country in the European Union. But docs from the United States and
> anywhere else outside Europe are still forbidden to use the honorific.
> Violators can face a year behind bars.

Strictly speaking, I believe that Italian rules are pretty analogous.
E.g., a US lawyer can define himself an attorney-at-law, but is in
principle legally prevented from translating that title in the Italian
equivalent of "procuratore legale" or "avvocato".

The difference is that we do not take our rules so seriously as Germans do. :-)

Stefano Vaj