Law as Profession of Words.pdf

INTRODUCTION TO LAW, LANGUAGE AND LEGAL PROFESSION Language has been defined as “ a system of vocal symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group participants in a culture, interact and communicate.” In this connection P.M. Bakshi has opined that there is a meaning of language...

INTRODUCTION TO LAW, LANGUAGE AND LEGAL PROFESSION Language has been defined as “ a system of vocal symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group participants in a culture, interact and communicate.” In this connection P.M. Bakshi has opined that there is a meaning of language which includes more than speech. A language begins with a nucleus and expands gradually. As need arises, more and more words enter the language, corresponding to the new concepts that come within the mental horizons of those using the words. While making an association between language and law, S.P. Sathe went a step further and opines that, language serves two purposes in the law: Firstly it helps the statement of a rule or facts Secondly it is used for persuasion. Legal language is the language used by the lawyer, the jurist and the legislative draftsman in their professional capacity. In this context N.R. Madhava Menon has rightly pointed out in one of his journals, “The language of the law is not just English as ordinarily understood but a varietal system of technical terms, situational meanings, complicated procedural arrangements etc. which communicate at least among the law men in a unique style imperceptibly interwoven with certain juristic traits and judicial qualities”. LEGAL LANGUAGE: FUNCTIONS FEATURES VARIETIES CHARACTERISTICS Functions of Legal Language To establish rights and obligations To distribute information To enable communication within the legal profession Universal features of Legal Language Extreme precision Obscurity, ambiguity Archaism (structures and vocabulary) Universal features of Legal Language (Cont...) formalism, ritualism, ceremonialism wordiness, redundancy lengthy and complex sentences (embeddings) impersonal constructions (passive) terms of art, technical terminology Sem-I/Eng-I/ZT & CN / KLS/ 2020 VARIETIES OF LEGAL WRITING-1 Academic Legal Writing Juridical Writing Legislative Writing Legislative language, statutory language Language of jurisprudence, courtroom language Language of litigation Bureaucratic language, administrative language Language of legal doctrine Language of private legal documents Language of international organizations Lawyer-client communication CHARACTERISTICS OF LEGAL ENGLISH Common words with specialised meaning Old or middle English words Latin words and phrases Words of French origin Terms of art Argot Formal words Words and expressions with flexible meaning Extreme precision Multiple words where one will do WHY LEGAL ENGLISH IS THE WAY IT IS? Historical reasons Jurisprudential factors Sociological factors Political factors Sem-I/Eng-I/ZT & CN / KLS/ 2020 Characteristics of Good Legal Writing Conciseness Completeness Courtesy Clarity Correctness Accurate + Analytical Relevant + Organized Thorough + Specific and concrete Logical + Correct Persuasive +Clear GUIDELINES FOR BETTER LEGAL ENGLISH Match function and style of the text according to the reader Avoid long and embedded sentences Avoid complex structures Use active instead of passive, if possible Avoid double negatives, exceptions to exceptions Avoid unnecessary synonym pairs (e.g., null and void) Use technical legal terms only when necessary, avoid jargon Avoid Latin and foreign words if possible Sem-I/Eng-I/ZT & CN / KLS/ 2020