As mentioned above, legal English is very different from standard English in many ways. The most important of these differences are: Legal English has traditionally been reserved for lawyers from English-speaking countries (particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, and South Africa) who share common law traditions. Due to the spread of legal English as the dominant language of international affairs, as well as its role as a legal language within the European Union, legal English is now a global phenomenon. It can be informally called Lawsspeak. [ref. needed] The specialized variety (or professional register) of the English language used by lawyers and in legal documents is called legal English. Legal English is the type of English used in legal writing. In general, a legal language is a formalized language based on logical rules that differ from ordinary natural language in vocabulary, morphology, syntax and semantics, as well as other linguistic characteristics,[1] that aim to achieve consistency, validity, completeness and solidity, while retaining the advantages of a human-like language such as intuitive execution. Full meaning and open upgrading. However, legal English has been called a “sublanguage”,[2] because legal English is different from ordinary English. A specialized use of certain linguistic terms and models regulates the teaching of legal language. Thus, “we study legal language as a kind of second language, a specialized use of vocabulary, phrases, and syntax that helps us communicate more easily with each other.” [3] Legal English is particularly relevant when applied to legal writing and written materials, including: As a result, non-English speaking lawyers and law students are increasingly seeking specialized training in legal English, and this training is now offered by law schools, language centres[15], private practices and podcasts[16] that focus on legal language.
The UK TOLES exam was set up to teach legal English to non-native speakers. The exams focus on those aspects of legal English that lawyers consider missing. [17] An annual conference on global legal skills has also been established to allow legal English teachers and other professionals to share information on teaching methods and materials. [18] The general rule is that letters to clients should be written in plain English, while contracts, articles of association and other “official” legal documents tend to contain language that can be difficult to understand even for a layman, let alone a student who is not a native speaker. It should be noted that the vast majority of UK lawyers rely on templates when drafting contracts. Here is a non-exhaustive list of prepositions commonly used in legal English, as well as examples of use. Note that prepositions are sometimes used in two (after, due to, due to, etc.) and even in three (how, through, in accordance with, etc.), and examples of prepositions chained together in this way are also included below. While the legal language in the Middle Ages combined Latin, French and English to avoid any ambiguity. According to Walter Probert, lawyers, beginning in the twentieth century, often manipulated language to make their campaign ideals more convincing. [12] In prehistoric Britain, traditional common law was discussed in the vernacular (see Celtic Law). Legal language and legal tradition changed with the waves of conquerors over the following centuries. Roman Britain (after the conquest of 43 AD) followed the Roman legal tradition and its legal language was Latin.
After the Roman withdrawal from Britain around 410 and the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain, the dominant tradition was rather Anglo-Saxon law, discussed in colloquial Germanic language (Old English) and written in Old English since about 600, beginning with Æthelberht`s law. After the Norman invasion of England in 1066, French Anglo-Norman became the official language of the court in England for almost 300 years until the Pleading in English Act of 1362 (and remained in low use for another 300 years), while medieval Latin was used for written documents for over 650 years. However, some English technical terms have been retained (see Anglo-Saxon Law: Language and Dialect for more details). The bestseller, The Legal English Grammar Guide, shows how legal English differs from business English and general English. Why is it so different from other English law books? Due to the prevalence of the English language in international business relations, as well as its role as a legal language worldwide, the international legal community has long felt that traditional English training is not sufficient to meet the language requirements of English lawyers.
