Making (comparative) legal linguistics mainstream in legal education

Abstract

This synopsis concludes, draws on and updates the author’s research over some twenty years in the field of (comparative) legal linguistics, in particular in the context of English as the lawyer’s lingua franca. It does so by linking theoretical aspects of legal linguistics (including but distinguished from comparative legal linguistics) to the need for this fledgling discipline to feature in the practical legal education curriculum for lawyers and translators as well as the obstacles to achieving that goal. Overall, the research can be said to lie at the interface between law, language, and learning. This study asserts that (comparative) legal linguistics should be integrated into the legal education curriculum. Starting with a brief summary of the author’s dozen papers in the field of legal linguistics published in scientific journals ─ distinguishing between the six selected for this synopsis and the six that provide background ─ the study synthesizes the findings with updated research in the context of legal English as the lawyer’s lingua franca. Relevant themes examined in this section include: terming the discipline; legal education and training; global English; stakeholders; who legal linguistics is for. Next, the study looks at areas covered by the discipline of legal linguistics such as legal language, legal culture, legal translation, comparative law, and legal history. The conclusion is that concerted institutional support is most likely to generate and maintain the impetus required to ensure that legal linguistics takes its proper place in legal education. The study closes with a look to the future.