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1. Legal English

   Chapter 8
2. Preview DevelopmentoftheEnglish legal system Developmentof legal English Characteristicsof legal English Legal English as a global language
3. TheCommonLawSystem Lawcreatedbycourts Commonlaw - equity EnglandandWales, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
4. BirthofCommonLaw Afterthe Norman conquest (1066) To consolidate his dominance, the king sought to centralisethejusticesystembyestablishingthe Royal CourtsofJustice at Westminster Powerfulvassalsresistedthecentralisationofjustice Royal Courts – able to adjudicatecasesfallingclearlywithinthe king’s competence Progressively, increasingcategoriesofcasestransferred to theseCourts
5. BirthofCommonLaw Court judgments - importancethatwentbeyondtheparticularcasesinwhichthey had beenpronounced To specifytheconditionsandlimitsofthebindingeffectofjudgments, a refinedruleofprecedentwasprogressivelycreated The legal systembuiltbycaselawstrengthenedthepositionofjudges
6. BirthofEquity DuringtheMiddleAges, Royal Courts – archaicandformalisticjudicialorgans TheChancellorbegan to recifyjudgmentsoftheCourtsofWestmionster on thebasisof natural justice Court ofChancery – createdits own remediesand legal conceptsofhighlytechnical nature, maintainingonly a distant link withfairnessandreasonableness
7. Equity 17th c. fiercestruggles for power betweentheCourtsof Westminster andthe Court ofChancery Endedin a compromiseguaranteeingbothcourtstheirproperfieldofcompetence Divisionbetweeenequityandcommonlawwasformed; maintainedevenafterunificationoftheEnglishjusticesysteminthe 19th c.
8. TheEnglish legal systemtoday TheamountofEnglishlegislation – comparable to thatofcontinentalcountries Statutes- considered to beincompleteuntilthe moment whenthey are “covered” bynumerousprecedentsspecifyingtheinterpretationoftheirmainprovisions
9. TheEnglish legal systemtoday Divisionsoflawand legal concepts- differentfrom civil law Commonlaw – equitydivision – unknownincontinentalcountries Manyinstitutions, e.g. trust, foreign to civil-law Europe
10. TheEnglish legal systemtoday Consistsofanexceptionallylargeamountofdetail Explanation: originallydevelopedbyjudges Unlikethelegislator, thecourtshave to drawvery fine distinctionssincetheyhave to decidehighlyvariedindividualcases
11. TheEnglish legal systemtoday Rulesoflawinducedfromcases – remarkablyconcrete Theserules – cannotberaised to a levelofabstraction as rulesformulatedby legal science Sincecaselaw is composedof a networkofrules, lawshave to bewritteninthe same way, i.e. highlydetailed to ensurecompatibilityofthetwotypesofrules
12. Migrations of Angles, Saxons and Jutes
13. HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE OLD ENGLISH (c. 450- c. 1100) MIDDLE ENGLISH (c. 1100- c.1450) MODERN ENGLISH (c. 1450 - )
14. LATER OLD ENGLISH (c. 850 - c.1100)Language Contacts OLD NORSE Lexical words Nouns:birth, bull, dirt, egg, fellow, husband, leg, sister, skin, sky, skirt, window Adjectives: ill, low, odd, rotten, sly, weak Verbs:call, crawl, die, get, give, lift, raise, scream, take, Function words Pronouns: they (their, them) Conjunctions: though Determiners: some, any Auxiliaries: are Names Family names: -son: Johnson, Stevenson Place names: -by 'farm, town': Derby, Rugby, Whitby; -thorp 'village': Althorp, Linthorp
15. SCANDINAVIAN PLACE NAMES
16. MIDDLE ENGLISH (c. 1100-1450)French Influence Administration Authority, bailiff, baron, chamberlain, chancellor, constable, council, court, crown, duke, empire, exchequer, government, liberty, majesty, mayor, messenger, minister, noble, palace, parliament, prince, realm, reign, revenue, royal, servant, sir, sovereign, statute, tax, traitor, treason, treasurer, treaty Law Accuse, advocate, arrest, arson, assault, assize, attorney, bail, bar, blame, convict, crime, decree, depose, estate, evidence, executor, felon, fine, fraud, heir, indictment, inquest, jail, judge, jury, justice, larceny, legacy, libel, pardon, perjury, plaintiff, plea, prison, punishment, sue, summons, trespass, verdict, warrant Military Ambush, archer, army, battle, besiege, captain, combat, defend, enemy, garrison, guard, lance, lieutenant, navy, retreat, sergeant, siege, soldier, vanquish
17. The Statute of Pleading, 1362 “All lawsuits shall be conducted in English, because French is much unknown in the said realm”
18. Richard Mulcaster (1582) “The English tongue is of small account, stretching no further than this island of ours, nay not there over all.”
19. THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH
20. Tripartite model (B. Kachru)
21. Developmentof legal English: the Anglo-Saxon Period Documentswithseals to certifythe sale of real estate or some otheractof transfer: gewritor writ Duringthe Norman era writs had animportant role inthecreationofcommonlaw Viking occupation – borrowingofScandinavianwords: law, gift, loan, sale, trust
22. The Anglo-Saxon Period Verbalmagic Actsof transfer requiredcomplicatedandpreciselanguagerituals; a singlemistakecouldnullifytheact Useofrhythmicexpressions Alliteration – commoninmaximsandbinaryexpressions
23. The Anglo-Saxon Period Inversion to strenghtentheimpact: I withmyeyessawandwithmyearsheard Languagegraduallybecame more complexsyntactically but stillcontainedelementsofspokenlanguage
24. The Anglo-Saxon Period Some Latin words Royal legislationandspreadofChristianity Examples: convict, admit, mediate, legitimate
25. DominanceofLaw Latin The Norman Conquestbrought to England a French-speakingupperclass Latin – dominantinlaw Normans – used Latin inimportantcontexts 11-12 c. Latin wasthelanguageof legal documentsinEngland
26. DominanceofLaw Latin Inthis period – commonlawwascreated Manyessentialcommonlawtermswereoriginallyformulatedin Latin (e.g. breve ‘writ’) Meaningdivergedfromthatofclassical Latin Often, Norman French or evenEnglishwordswereLatinised (e.g. morder > murdrum) ‘dog Latin’
27. Rise ofLawFrench 1st lawpromulgatedinFrenchin 1275 Endof 13th c. both Latin andFrenchused as legislative languages Early 14th c. Frenchusedindraftinglaws (exceptinChurchmatters) Late 13th c. the Royal CourtsusedFrenchduringsessions; casereports – preparedinFrench
28. Rise ofLawFrench Frenchbecamethe legal languageinEnglandfromthe late 13th c., both for legislationandthelawcourts The use ofFrenchinEnglish legal circles – a strangephenomenonbecausein 13th c. French had alreadybegun to disappearinEngland as a languageofcommunication; yetthe rise ofFrench as languageofthelawonlystarted at that time
29. Rise ofLawFrench Reasons: A sectionoftheEnglisharistocracy – stillFrench-speaking at theendof 13th c. French as thelanguageofculture Centralisationofjusticesystemconsolidatedthe status ofFrench Secularisationofthejusticesystem – clerics no longeroperated as judges
30. Rise ofLawFrench Withits general disappearancefromEngland, French had becomethemarkofthetrueelites Legal profession – monopolyoftheelites French – guaranteethatthepeoplecouldnotmeddleinthejusticesystembecausetheywereunaable to followthetriallprocess LawFrench – eventhen a dead language: itsexpressions had a clear legal meaning; appropriate for use as legal terms
31. DeclineofLaw Latin andLawFrench 1362 Statute ofPleading – draftedinFrench! – prescribedthatjudgeswere to use English but that court minutescouldstillbepreparedin Latin According to Sir Edward Coke, it wasbetterthattheunlearnedwerenotable to read legal materials becausetheywouldget it all wrongandharmthemselves!
32. DeclineofLaw Latin andLawFrench Endof 14th c. parliamentarianswereusingspokenEnglish Stillin 17th c. possible to hearlawFrenchintheInnsof Court, and, occasionally, inthecourts; a numberof legal works – stillwritteninlawFrench Frenchand Latin finallyabolishedin 1731
33. DeclineofLaw Latin andLawFrench Latin – declinedin 16th and 17th c.; remainedanimportant legal language: court records, writsandother legal documentswrittenin Latin until 18th c.
34. Dominanceof Latin, FrenchandEnglish 1000 1200 1500 2000 Latin supremacy LawFrenchsupremacy Englishsupremacy
35. Characteristicsof Legal English English – a global language Variesaccording to differentsituations; sometimes: stiffandconservative, sometimesinnovativeandcreative Differencebetweenthespokenlanguageof court sessionsandwritten legal language
36. Influence ofotherlanguages Legal English – a languageofinteractionbetween Old English (Anglo-Saxon, withScandinavianelements), Medieval Latin, Old French Latin andFrenchexpressions - partofthe most basicvocabularyofEnglishlaw; foundationsofEnglish legal thinking Calques – translationsfrom Latin andFrench (originally, commonlawwascomuneley)
37. Latin Legal maxims: ubi jus, ibiremedium Ratiodecidendi, obiterdicta Ordinary Latin: versus; pro se (saidofanindividualrepresentingthemselvesin court, i.e. without legal representation)= inpropria persona,in forma pauperis(exemptfrompaying court costs) ex parte(‘from one partyonly, for thebenefitof one partyonly’), mens rea, scienter (‘knowingly’), animustestandi(‘intention to make a will’)
38. Latin Technicalmeaning: amicuscuriae A privateindividual, a legal person, eventhe State thatgivesthe court specific legal information
39. Latin shortenedexpressions Nisi prius(‘unlessbefore’) = a matterofproceedings at first instance with a jurypresent Affidavit (‘he affirmed’) = ‘a written or printeddeclarationconfirmedbyanoath’ Habeascorpus(‘youmayhavethebody’) = a judge’s order to bring a prisonerbeforethe court to clarifythelegalityofdetaininghim
40. Latin legal discoursemarkers Aforesaid < predictus; said < dictus InmedievalEngland, when a person’s nameappeared for the 1st time precededbyquidem ‘a certain’; later, thewordspredictus, dictusor idemwereused
41. LawFrench Real propertylaw: purautrevie‘for or duringthelifetimeof a third party’, terre-tenant Most technical legal vocabularygoesback to Old French: assault, infraction, damage, action, counsel, defendant, judge, jury, party, process, verdict
42. LawFrench Influence on word formation: Old French past participle: -e or –ee (for thepersonobtainingsth or formingtheobjectofanaction Doeroftheaction: -or/-er Employer/employee, trustor/trustee, vendor/vendee
43. LawFrench Word order Accountspayable, attorney general, court martial, feesimple, letters patent
44. Ritual andformalismoflanguage: thetraditionofverbalmagic MiddleAges: magicalrites: parties had to recite thewordsnecessary for thecourseofthetrialwithabsoluteaccuracy, underpenaltyofforfeitingtheirrights
45. Repetition Binaryexpressions: wordswiththe same meaningexisted at the same time intheformof Latin-Frenchvariantsand Anglo-Saxonvariants . Repetitionsensuredthat legal messageswereunderstandablein a multilingualsociety Acknowledgeandconfess, actanddeed, deviseandbequeath, fitandproper, goodsandchattels, willand testament
46. Repetition triplerepetition:nullandvoidandof no effect, authorized, empoweredandentitled to To tellthetruth, thewholetruth, andnothing but thetruth
47. WordinessofEnglish legal language: Influence ofcase-law Mylward v. Weldon (1596) theplaintiffproduced a pleadingrunning to 120 pages Examplesofwordiness: (Mattila 2006: 235-236)
48. Lawofcontract Caselaw – fundamental Ifthepartiesomitsthfromthecontract, theycannotrely on thecourts to insert it later on theirbehalfbywayofinterpretation Termsof a contract – alwaysinterpretednarrowly: parolevidencerule: ifthemeaningofawrittencontract is clear, then no otherevidence is allowed as to itscontent; thecontractshouldcontain all that is needed
49. Lawofcontract Thelanguageof a contractgovernedbycommonlawshouldbe general enough to covereverysituation, yetpreciseenoughtoensurethatthe legal positionoftheparties is unambiguous Thecontractshouldshowwithcertaintywhat it includesandwhatitdoesnot (Ibid: 237)
50. OrthographyandPronunciation Legal language – a tool of group cohesion, or team spirit Frenchand Latin pronounced as Englishwords Oyezpronounced as oou-yes
51. Legal English as a Global Language: ExpansionofCommonLaw Some 1,200-1,500 millionpeopleincommandofEnglish; 670 millionnativespeakers English – officiallanguagein 75 states or administrativeterritories 85% internationalorganisations use English as one oftheirlanguages Dominanceininternationaltrade
52. Legal Englishinthe United States The influence ofEnglishlaw – terminatedwiththeindependence Nevertheless, theapproach to the legal order, fundamentalprinciplesandconceptsoflaw, essentiallegalterminology - the same inEnglandandthe US
53. American legal culture Fundamentalideasin line withtheEnglishtradition 1) supremacyofthelaw (ruleoflaw) 2) ruleofprecedent 3) adversarial procedure
54. American legal culture Separationbetweenprivateandpubliclawlessimportantthanin civil lawcountries Separationofpowers federalism
55. Characteristicsof American legal English InstitutionswhosestructurediffersfromthoseinEngland – original designation (e.g. namesofcourts: Federaljusticesystem: districtcourts, courtsofappeals, theSupreme Court)
56. Differencesbetween UK and US English Corporation – company Visitingrights – rightof access
57. Similarities Traditionalexpressions: hereafter, herein, hereof, herewith complexity
58. Legal Englishinthe Indian Sub-continent: Anglo-Indian law Commonlawtookrootalongsidethetraditional systems oflaw: Hindu lawandMuslimlaw – applicationlimited to traditionalbranchesoflaw (familylaw, inheritance) 19th c. a largenumberoflawscameintoforce; preparedbythe British, oftenin London Thehighestjudicial organ: theJudicialCommitteeofthePrivyCouncil (London)
59. ExpansionandChangeof legal Englishin India English – languageofhighereducationandcolonialadministration 1837 Englishbecametheofficiallanguagein India From 1844 onlythoseeducatedinEnglishcouldbeappointed civil servants
60. ExpansionandChangeof legal Englishin India Republicof India – Englishremainsthelanguageofhighereducationandscience; Hindi – National OfficialLanguage English – languageofgovernmentandthehigherjusticesystem
61. ExpansionandChangeof legal Englishin India Pakistan – Urdu Bangladesh – Bangla (formerly: Bengali) Legal terminologyand style in India and Pakistan – essentially British Englishsometimesoperates as a linguistic tool evenofIslamiclaw; differences: termsexpressing original conceptsofIslamiclaw “In Pakistan, thelanguageofIslamiclaw is infact legislative English” (N. Ahmad)
62. Legal EnglishinInternationalTrade Lawyersinnon-EnglishspeakingcountriesdailydrawingupcontractsinEnglish; oftencontainlanguagesimilar to traditionalcommonlawcontracts – seriousproblems Culturalcollision Civil lawlawyersmaycopycommonlawcontractswithoutfullyunderstandingthem
63. Legal EnglishinInternationalTrade “While it is open to thepartiesindisputeover a contract to adduceevidence as to themeaningofspecificforeignwords, it is notpossible at commonlaw to adduceevidence as to theactualintentionofthepartieswhenthecontractwasexecuted”
64. Contradictoryinterpretation A contractincommerciallaw, withconnectinghfactorswithdifferentStates is expresslysubmitterd or maybesubmittedbywayofinterpretation to a definite legal order Legal disputesarisingfromthecontractheardeitherbyanarbitration tribunal or thecourtsof a State
65. Contradictoryinterpretation Wherelitigationhas to beheardby a State’s court, theinterpretationmaycauseconsiderablesurprise to one oftheparties A British or North American court tends to interpret thetermsof a contractdrawnupinEnglishin line withtraditionalcommonlawthinking Thetermsmayacquire a meaningcompletelydifferentfromthatimaginedbythepartyfromacontinentalcountry Efforts to developterminologythat is nottoocloselylinked to the legal ordersofparticularStates