Legal English - Origin and Legalese

INTRODUCTION: DEFINING EFFECTIVE LEGAL
ENGLISH
Legal English (legalese) is the style of English

used by other legal professionals and in legal
documents.
As David Mellinkoff has noted, legal English
includes "distinctive words, meanings, phrases,
and modes of expression" (The Language of the
Law, 1963).
Origins of Legal English
 The development of Legal English is closely connected with the history of Great Britain
the legal tradition of which is based on common law.
 For several centuries following the Norman invasion, English remained the spoken
language of the majority of the population, while almost all writing was done in French or
Latin.
 The English-speaking nations (especially the U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
and South Africa) inherited the system of common law, the main feature of which is that
laws are not codified. Among the consequences of such tradition we can name the drafting of
many important legal documents with the use of legal documents with the use of archaic
linguistic forms.
 During the history, Legal English was influenced by Latin and French. Following the
Norman invasion of England in 1066, Anglo-Norman French became the official language of
England. For a period of nearly 300 years, it was the language of legal proceedings. As a
result many words using in modern legal English are derived from Anglo-Norman, for
example: property, estate, chattel, lease, executor, and tenant. Its influence may be illustrated
by some of the complex linguistic structures employed in legal writing.
Origins of Legal English …contd.
 From 1066 Latin was the language of formal records and statutes, but it was not the language
of legal pleading or debate. The Statute of Pleading, which was enacted in French in 1356, stated
that all legal proceedings should be in English, but recorded in Latin. Nonetheless, the use of
French in legal pleadings continued into the seventeenth century in some areas of the law.
 The influence of Latin can be seen in a number of words and phrases such as ad hoc, de facto,
bona fide, inter alia, and ultra vires, which remain in current use in legal writing. English was
adopted for different kinds of legal documents at different times. Wills began to be written in
English in about 1400. Statutes were written in Latin until about 1300, in French until 1485, in
English and French for a few years, and in English alone from 1489. According to the Proceedings
in Courts of Justice Act 1730 Latin was replaced by English. As a result new branches of law such
as commercial law began to develop entirely in English.
Origins of Legal English …contd.
 During the Medieval period lawyers used a mixture of Latin, French and
English. The usage of pairs of words from different languages led to the
emergence of mixed language doublets in legal language. Among the examples of
mixed language doublets are: "breaking and entering" (English/French), "fit and
proper" (English/French), "lands and tenements" (English/French), "will and
testament" (English/Latin). Examples of English-only doublets are: "let and
hindrance", "have and hold." For written forms of legal English is used the term
legalese which is characterized by verbosity, Latin expressions, nominalizations,
embedded clauses, passive verbs, and lengthy sentences.
 For written forms of legal English is used the term legalese which is characterized
by verbosity, Latin expressions, nominalizations, embedded clauses, passive
verbs, and lengthy sentences
Types of Legal English
 We can distinguish two types of legal English: spoken or written media
legal English and legal texts.
 The spoken language varies, from the cross examination of a witness by

an attorney, over procedural instructions delivered by judges, to
lawyers' interpersonal communication.
 Legal texts, on the other hand, consist of case law, law reports and
prescriptive legal texts. They comprise international treaties,
constitutions, orders, regulations, insurance policies, wills and
contracts.
 Moreover, the spoken language of lawyers is creative, especially when a
lawyer addresses the jury, and written legal English is conservative and
formal.
FUNCTIONS, FEATURES, VARIETIES,
CHARACTERISTICS
 Functions of legal language
 to establish rights and obligations
 to distribute information
 to enable communication within the legal
profession
VARIETIES OF LEGAL LANGUAGE
 Academic Legal Writing - the language of academic research journals as
well as that of legal text-books (instructional or informational orientation).
 Juridical Writing - the language of court- judgements, case-books and law

reports (where one may find traces of legislative writing). Language of
jurisprudence, courtroom language language used by courts and judges,
court decisions, judg(e)ments
 Legislative Writing- typical legal documents like Acts of Parliament,

statutory instruments, contracts, agreements, treaties, etc., where the main
function is to legislate by creating a unique world of obligations,
permissions and prohibitions. Legislative language, statutory language -
language of statutes, conventions, treaties, language of legal drafting
VARIETIES OF LEGAL LANGUAGE
 Bureaucratic language, administrative language language of administrative documents
 Language of private legal documents -contracts, insurance policy, testament language

etc.
 Language of international organizations -Language of international or multilingual

organisations, “EU language”, “eurospeak”
 Lawyer-client communication -consultations, putting client’s concrete situation in

legal context
Universal features of legal language
 extreme precision
 obscurity, ambiguity
 archaism (structures and vocabulary)

Universal features of legal language
 formalism, ritualism, ceremonialism

 wordiness, redundancy
 lengthy and complex sentences (embeddings)
 impersonal constructions (passive)
 terms of art, technical terminology
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEGAL ENGLISH
 Common words with  Latin words and phrases
specialist meaning- Eg. ultra vires ,in propria persona
Eg. executed meaning signed and
delivered/performed, carried  Words of French origin
out/ killed as a punishment
Eg.damage, mortgage
party meaning person contracting
or litigating
 Terms of art - art (technical
terms, often Latinisms)
 Old or middle English
Eg. comparative negligence,
words
negotiable instrument
Thenceforth, notwithstanding
 Argot - (jargon)
Eg.for the duration of (= during), in the event that (= if)
 Formal words
Eg. I do solemnly swear to tell the Truth, the whole Truth and
nothing but the Truth
 Words and expressions with flexible meaning

(euphemisms)
fair division, undue influence, reasonable man ,good faith
 Extreme precision
 Many words where one will do –
Examples
rest, residue and remainder, Will and Testament,final
and conclusive, fit and proper, null and void/null,
void, and of no effect, Act and Deed and give, devise,
and bequeath
WHY LEGAL ENGLISH IS THE WAY IT IS
 Historical reasons - development of legal and administrative system and characteristics of
the power elite (Latin/Roman influence, Norman conquest, French influence)
 doubling and tripling (e.g., null, void, and of no effect)
 retention of foreign elements (latinisms, frenchisms)
 Jurisprudential factors -common law: precedent and case law (the law is determined by reference to
earlier judgments)
 legal terms fixed in earlier judgments
 Sociological factors -lawyers’ need to conform to and identify with other members of the profession,
professional peer pressure (”talking and writing like a lawyer”)
 lawyers’ need to be “indispensable”
 Political factors
 euphemisms (”visually challenged”)
 need for precision/ambiguity (treaties, agreements)
 administrative
 Nowadays the linguistic theories which investigate legal English are forensic
linguistics and legal discourse.
 Forensic linguistics is a field of applied linguistics involving the relationship
between language, the law, and crime. Its purpose is the application of linguistic
knowledge, methods and insights to the forensic context of law, language, crime
investigation, trial, and judicial procedure. Discourse is the term that describes
written and spoken communications.
 Legal Discourse analysis focuses on the investigation of legal texts: written codes
and the textual records of the judicial proceedings. Legal documents (contracts,
licences, etc); court pleadings (summonses, briefs, judgments, etc.); laws ( Acts
Of Parliament and subordinate legislation, case reports) and legal correspondence
constitute the sources of linguistic researches.
Characteristics of good legal writing
 Conciseness
 Completeness
 Courtesy
 Clarity
 Correctness
-er, -or and –ee terms ….contd
 Assignor is a party who assigns (transfers)
something to another party. Assignee is the party
to whom something is assigned.
 Donor is a party who donates something to another
party. Donee is the party to whom something is
donated.
 Interviewer is a person who is interviewing
someone. Interviewee is a person who is being
interviewed by the interviewer.
 Lessor is a party who grants a lease over a
property. He or she is therefore the landlord.
Lessee is the party to whom a lease over a
property is granted. He or she is therefore the
tenant.
 Mortgagor is a lender who lends money to a
property owner (the mortgagee) in return for
the grant by the mortgagee of a mortgage over
the property as security for the loan.
Mortgagee is the property owner to whom
money is loaned by the mortgagor in return
for the grant of a mortgage over the property.
 Offeror is a party who makes a contractual
offer to another party. Offeree is the party to
whom a contractual offer is made.
 Payer is a party who makes a payment to
another party. Payee is the party to whom
payment is made.
 Promisor is a party who makes a promise to
another party. Promisee is the party to whom
a promise is made.
 Representor is a party who makes a
contractual representation to another party.
Representee is the party to whom a
contractual representation is made.
 Transferor is a party who transfers something
to another party. Transferee is the party to
whom something is transferred.
Slide notes and courtesy:
 http://dspace.univer.kharkov.ua/bitstream/123456789/7033/2/
law_lecture.pdf
 Haigh Rupert. Legal English. London: Routledge Cavendish. 2009.

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INTRODUCTION: DEFINING EFFECTIVE LEGAL

Legal English (legalese) is the style of English

 The spoken language varies, from the cross examination of a witness by

 Juridical Writing - the language of court- judgements, case-books and law

 Legislative Writing- typical legal documents like Acts of Parliament,

 Bureaucratic language, administrative language language of administrative documents

 Language of private legal documents -contracts, insurance policy, testament language

 Language of international organizations -Language of international or multilingual

 Lawyer-client communication -consultations, putting client’s concrete situation in

 archaism (structures and vocabulary)

 formalism, ritualism, ceremonialism

 Words and expressions with flexible meaning

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