LANGUAGE AND LAW - unizg.hr

LANGUAGE AND LAW
LanguagesforSpecificPurposesandLegal English
Preview
LanguagesforspecificpurposesLegallanguageCharacteristicsoflegalEnglishExamples:ActofSettlement(1700);TheSuccessiontotheCrownAct(2013)HistoryofEnglishSourcesanddevelopmentoflegalEnglish
Lead-in
Islegallanguagedifficult?Why?Islegallanguageusedonlyforcommunicationbetweenlegalprofessionals?Shouldordinarycitizensbeabletounderstandlegallanguage?Why?Whatarethemajorlegaltexttypes(genres)?
Lead-in
Whatarelangaugesforspecificpurposes?Whendidtheydevelopandwhy?HowdoeslegalEnglishdifferfromgeneral English?WhatarethespecialcharacteristicsoflegalEnglish?
LanguagesforSpecificPurposes(LSP)
DevelopmetofscienceandtechnologyafterWorldWarIIApproachtolanguageteachingaddressingspecificneedsofprofessionallearnersAlsostudiesatypeoflanguageusedbymembersofaparticularprofession,concentratingonitsgenres,stylisticfeaturesandtechnicalterms
Legallanguage
Basedonordinarylanguage, buthasanumberofspecialfeatures
DifferencesbetweenlegallanguageandotherLSPs
Legallanguage–veryold;retainsmanyfeaturesthathavedisappearedfromordinarylanguage; influenceofLatinNotonlyforinternalprofessionalcommunication;plainlanguagemovementsTermsfromotherprofessionallanguages
CharacteristicsofLegal English
Speciallegalterms(damages,injunction,tort)Archaisms(aforesaid,forthwith,hereafter,herein)Borrowingsfromotherlanguages: Latin(corpusdelicti,actusreus,mensrea,obiterdicta,ratiodecidendi, staredecisis);French:contract,court,judge,judgment,jury,marriage,money,prison,property,tort),Frenchsuffixes:employ-er,employ-ee)Specificcollocations(fairtrial,reachaverdict);phrasalverbs(putdownadeposit,writedownadebt)
CharacteristicsofLegal English
Ordinarywordswithaspeciallegalmeaning(construction,satisfy,consideration)Legaldoublets(nullandvoid,lastwillandtestament)Uncommonpro-forms(thesame,thesaid,theaforementioned)Syntacticcomplexity(long, complexsentences)
CharacteristicsofLegal English
Nominalisation(nounsusedinsteadofverbsforactionsorprocesses)PassivizationImpersonality(3rdperson; ‘theContractor’; ‘theLender’Multiplenegation(Thatisthekindofaccident,whichordinarilydoesnotoccurintheabsenceofsomeone’snegligence=Itisthekindofaccident,whichoccurswhensomeoneisnegligent)
Legal English: ModalVerbs
Shall–thelegalimperative;obligationShallnot–prohibitionMust –proceduralobligationShould= ‘itisrecommended’May –permissionsandauthorizationsMaynot–cancellationofapermissionorexceptionto a generalpermission
Completethefollowingtable
Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse
ActofSettlement(1700)
ProvidedalwaysanditisherebyenactedThatallandeveryPersonandPersonswhoshallormaytakeorinheritthesaidCrownbyvertueoftheLimitationofthispresentActandisareorshallbereconciledtoorshallholdCommunionwiththeSeeorChurchofRomeorshallprofessthePopishReligion…shallbesubjecttosuchIncapacitiesasinsuchCaseorCasesarebythesaidrecitedActprovidedenactedandestablishedAndthateveryKingandQueenofthisRealmwhoshallcometoandsucceedintheImperiallCrownofthisKingombyvertueofthisActshallhavetheCoronationOathadministeredtohimherorthemattheirrespectiveCoronationsaccordingtotheActofParliamentmadeintheFirstYearoftheReignofHisMajestyandthesaidlate QueenMaryintitulatedAnActforestablishingtheCoronationOathandshallmakesubscribeandrepeattheDeclarationintheActfirstaboverecitedmentionedorreferredtointheMannerandFormtherebyprescribed.
TheSuccessiontotheCrownAct2013
An Act to make succession to the Crown not depend on gender; to make provision about Royal Marriages; and for connected purposes.[25th April 2013]Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
TheSuccessiontotheCrownAct2013
1 Succession to the Crown not to depend on genderIn determining the succession to the Crown, the gender of a person born after 28 October 2011 does not give that person, or that person’s descendants, precedence over any other person (whenever born).2 Removal of disqualification arising from marriage to a Roman Catholic(1)A person is not disqualified from succeeding to the Crown or from possessing it as a result of marrying a person of the Roman Catholic faith.(2)Subsection(1)applies in relation to marriages occurring before the time of the coming into force of this section where the person concerned is alive at that time (as well as in relation to marriages occurring after that time).
Research
FindarecentjudgmentoftheSupremeCourtoftheUK (www.supremecourt.uk)andcompareitsstructureandstyletothatofarecentjudgmentoftheSupremeCourtoftheRepublicofCroatia (www.vsrh.hr)
HistoryofEnglish
WhoweretheearliestinhabitantsoftheBritishIsles?Whoinvadedte Britishislesindifferentperiods?Whatlanguageswerespokenbytheinvadors?
A shorthistoryoftheEnglishlanguage
Assignment
Write a summary of the major periods in the history of the English language explaining the influence of other languages in different periods.
Lead-in
Why was French important in the history of English?When was the Statute of Pleading enacted and why was it important?Which areas of law remained relatively free of French-based terminology? Why?
SourcesofLegal English
ImpactofLatinandFrenchFollowingtheNormanconquestin1066,FrenchbecamethelanguageoftherulingclassesinEnglandFrench–thelanguageoflegalproceedingsforalmost300years1356theStatuteofPleading–allcourtproceedingsshouldbeinEnglish, butrecordedinLatin1400 EnglishwillsBefore1300statuteswerewritteninLatin,inFrenchuntil1485,inEnglishfrom1489
Whatistheoriginofwordsinthefollowingsentence (Latin/French/English)
„Neitherpartyshallbeliabletotheotherforfailuretoperformordelayintheperformanceofitsobligationscausedbyanycircumstancesbeyonditsreasonablecontrol.”
Research
Prepareapresentationon achosenperiodinthehistoryoflegalEnglish,focusigontheinfluenceofotherlanguagesPrepareapresentationaboutthecharacteristicsoflegalEnglishPrepareapresentationaboutthecharacteristicsoflegalCroatian