Phillips Lawyers' Language

The Distinctiveness of Legal Language
Erscheinungsjahr 2003
ISBN: 978-1-135-78836-0
Verlag: CRC Press
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

An interesting examination of law as language use or discourse, this study looks at the transformation of ordinary language into a special discourse for the purposes of the legal system. It is widely accepted that legal discourse is obscure, and often the public resent the fact that access to the law of the land is obstructed by the opaqueness of legal language. This book argues that the development and maintenance of law's special language can be justified. The myth that law can be written in either plain' or ordinary' language is exploded, and the linguistic obscurity of law is traced to its necessary complexity. The notion of representation is applied to the relation that exists between legal language and ordinary language.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Phillips, Alfred

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction 1. Ground-clearing 2. Critical Language Theory 3. Dworkin and strong constitutionalism 4. Rights-based law 5. Habermas and the democratic ideal 6. Conclusions