School of Law and Governance

ENG 161 English II L T P C

Version: 1.1 4 0 0 4
Pre-requisites//Exposure Basics of English Language
co-requisites Legal Literature
Semester II
Programme B.A. LL.B.(H)

1.0. Course Description

Although the art of legal writing has been practiced for as long as there have been laws and
lawyers, it is only recently that the subject has been recognized as worthy of serious study.
Legal documents, contracts and letters require the utmost clarity and acumen with a sound
knowledge of the relevant laws and legislations. This paper traces the history of legal
language, legal terms, expressions and maxims employed in writing. Legal Affectation is
discussed at length so that those starting out on a legal career should be given guidance and
good practice from the outset to eliminate bad habits involving circumlocution in legal
writing. The paper also introduces the students to the concept of narrative jurisprudence.
Various literary texts with a substantial legal background are studied to help the learners
build up a jurisprudential perspective that invites us to re-examine the stories and narratives
within which we know and practice law.

Historians have approached the scholarly genre of "law and literature" as a means to mine
works of literature for images, descriptions, and representations of law and legal events in
historical (or historical-analogical) contexts. The questions asked are framed by history and
treat literature as source material. Suppose we instead make literature our frame and history
our subject. What can literature as form tell historians about "history" as we currently
practice it? How might an inspection of literature as a practice change the practice of legal
historians?

2.0. OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

The objectives of the course are –

 To make the students understand the jurisprudential background of the study

of language and law;
 To impart the knowledge regarding problems of legal language in drafting;
 To discuss the constitutional provisions relating to legal language;
 Developing Communication and Reporting skills in the field of Law ;
 Introduction to some masterpieces of literature with legal background and
relevance;
 To impart basic communication skill and writing skills, etc.

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3.0.Teaching Learning Methodology:

Lecture Method
Discussion Method
Presentation

4.0 Evaluation Scheme:

Continuous Assessment 30 Points
Attendance 5 Points
Midterm 15 Points
End Term 50 Points

5.0. COURSE CURRICULUM

MODULE I:

 Jurisprudential Background of the study of language and law;

 Problems of legal language in drafting;
 Constitutional provisions relating to language;
 Legal Maxims;
 Latin, French words and Legal Phrases;

Recommended Readings:
 Granville Williams, Learning the Law, Universal Law, New Delhi, 2011.
 Herbert Broom, A Selection of Legal Maxims Classified and Illustrated, The
law Book Exchange ltd., Clark, New Jersey, 2010.
 S.C.Tripathi, Legal Language, Legal Writing and General English, Central
Law Publications, Allahabad, 2010.

 John C. Dernbach, Richard V. Singleton II, Cathleen S. Wharton, Joan M.

Ruhtenberg and Catherine J. Wasson, Legal Writing and Legal Method,
Wolters Kluwer, Law & Business, New Delhi , 2011.

MODULE II:

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THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF LAW AND LITERATURE

Excerpts from
a) James Boyd White, The Legal Imagination
b) Richard Posner, Law and Literature

Recommended Readings:
a) James Boyd White, The Legal Imagination, Abridged Edition, The University
of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1985.
b) Richard Posner, Law and Literature, University Law Publishing Co. Ltd, New
Delhi, 2011

MODULE III:

PLAYS
a) William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
b) Vijay Tendulkar, Silence! The Court Is In Session

Recommended Readings:

a) Ian Ward, Shakespeare and the Legal Imagination, London: Butterworths,

1999
b) Ashis Sengupta, ‘Being and Role-Playing: Reading Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq’,
Indian Literature Volume 47 Number 1 (213), January 2003, pp. 161-73

MODULE IV:

PROSE-FICTION

a) Franz Kafka, ‘Before the Law’, from The Trial

b) Munshi Premchand, ‘The Holy Panchayat’
c) George Orwell, Animal Farm

Recommended Readings:

a) 150150Harold Bloom, Franz Kafka’s The Trial: A Selection of Critical

Essays, Chelsea House Publications, 1987
b) R. Mahendran, ‘A Critical Note on a Short Story of Premchand “The Holy
Panchayat”, Language in India Volume 12 Issue 6, June 2012, p. 199
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c) Harold Bloom, Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: George Orwell’s

Animal Farm, New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009

MODULE V:

COMPOSITION AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS

a) Essay Writing

b) Legal story and Play Writing from Court room reports

c) Enactment of Street plays

Recommended Readings:

a) S.C. Tripathi, Legal Language, Legal Writing and General English, Central Law
Publications, New Delhi, 2005.

b) Granville Williams, Learning the Law, Universal, New Delhi, 2000

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