DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY
LUCKNOW

Rough Draft
Subject: - Language Of Law
Project on: - Law and Language

SUBMITTED TO: Miss. Deepika

I.

Objective of Study

SUBMITTED BY:

This project focuses on the language used in law and how legal language influences plain
language and vice versa. It focuses on the language of law and its specifications. This project
also talks about the influence of law and legal language on popular literature.

II.

Sources of Data
a) Secondary sources Books, journals and the web

III.

Methodology

The methodology used in this project is descriptive and analytic, using various articles,
books, journals and web sources to find out and compare the various materials and compile a
study on the topic.

IV.

Hypothesis

My hypothesis is that there is a lot of inter relation between language and law as it can be
seen that in law a lot of emphasis is put on legal writing. There has always been special stress
on use of proper official and professional language in law whether in speaking on a large
forum or while writing article or research papers. Language and law always go side by side.

V.

Research Questions

1. What is the essence of the legal language?

2. How does legal language influence plain language and vice versa?
3. What is the law and literature movement?
4. Till what extent does popular culture influence legal language?

VI.

Tentative Chapterization

1. Introduction
The use of language is crucial to any legal system especially in the respect that lawmakers
typically use language to make the law and courts typically use language to state their
grounds of decision.
The relationship between law and language extends to broader notions of language as
communication too, like the crucial role of silence and non- verbal communication. In
essence, the relationship between law and language is varied and complex.
Law is a part of culture. Law and literature have much in common, too, as rhetorical activities
based on narrative. Both attempt to shape reality by using language to persuade the reader or
listener.

Language and law are inextricably linked in many ways: rules are expressed, understood, and
interpreted in language; legislation too is a special form of expression, as is a judges opinion.

2. Legal language V Plain language

Legal language is made up of several genres, each with its own specific, if often related,
characteristics.
It ranges from the spoken exchanges in a court to the jargon employed by members of the
legal profession in interpersonal communication, to the written language in case law, law
reports and prescriptive legal texts.
Plain language is clear, succinct writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly
and completely as possible.
Plain language strives to be easy to read, understand, and use. It avoids verbose, convoluted
language and jargon. In many countries, laws mandate that public agencies use plain
language to increase access to programs and services.

3. The law and literature movement

The law and literature movement focuses on the interdisciplinary connection
between law and literature. This field has roots in two major developments in the intellectual
history of lawfirst, the growing doubt about whether law in isolation is a source of value
and meaning, or whether it must be plugged into a large cultural or philosophical or socialscience context to give it value and meaning; and, second, the growing focus on the
mutability of meaning in all texts, whether literary or legal.
This movement has broad and potentially far-reaching implications with regards to future
teaching methods, scholarship, and interpretations of legal texts.

4. Conclusion
To be included in the final draft.

VII. Bibliography
1. http://www.law.utoronto.ca/focus-area/law-and-literature
2. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/language/index.shtml
3. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/law-language/

4. http://www.scienzepolitiche.uniba.it/area_docenti/documenti_doce

nte/materiali_didattici/116_Williams.pdf