CC BY
46
III. ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНО-ОРИЕНТИРОВАННЫХ НАВЫКОВ В ПРОЦЕССЕ ИЗУЧЕНИЯ ИНОСТРАННЫХ ЯЗЫКОВ
Агеева М. Г., Мубаракова И. Ю.
LEGAL ENGLISH WRITING STYLE
All professions have their own jargon - the specialized vocabulary of a particular social group. Computer professionals commonly talk about soft- and hardware development, economists about shares and bonds purchase, teachers about curriculum and syllabus design. The use of some special words can be justified because they refer to issues, which are important to a particular profession but not essential to most people in everyday life. But sometimes it seems that jargon is a way of distinguishing people inside a professional group from those on the outside thus creating a mystery about a profession.
People all over the world complain that lawyers as a profession often appear rather remote and difficult to understand, and English speaking lawyers are not an exception from this movement. Perhaps one reason for this is legalese - the strange and sometimes-incomprehensible language so many English speaking lawyers write and speak. Legalese is usually defined as the language of lawyers that they might use in drafting legal documents butwould not use in ordinary communications. Linguists identify legalese as a distinctive dialect because it is conservative and static, and is not evolving in step with modern English language. Legalese is mainly characterized by complex vocabulary, long sentences and high abstraction resulting in difficulties laypersons (non-lawyers) need to overcome to understand legal document's gist.
English-speaking lawyers are traditionally addicted to long, complicated sentences. When lawyers write, they deliver to the reader in one gigantic package all their main themes, supporting reasons, details, qualifications, exceptions, and conclusions.
Very long sentences often contain many clauses, which limit and define the original statement. For example: In a trial by jury, the court may, when the convenience of witnesses or the ends of justice would be promoted thereby, on motion of the party, after notice and hearing, make an order, no later than the close of the pre trial conference in cases in which such pretrial conference is t be held, or in other cases, no later than 10 days before the trial date, that the trial of the issue of liability shall precede the trial of any other issue in the case. As Professor Richard C. Wydick comments, [Plain English for Lawyers 1998: 36] the subject matter of this passage is not complicated. It is about the trial of the liability issue before other issues. Nevertheless, the passage is hard to understand because of its single sentence format containing five pieces of information.
Legal language traditionally uses coupled synonyms such as: alter or change; last will and testament; confessed and acknowledged; order and direct; null and void; for and during the period; peace and quiet; force and effect; free and clear; full and complete; true and correct. Coupled synonyms have ancient roots. Professor David Mellinkoff in his Dictionary of American Legal Usage explains that, at several moments in history, the English and their lawyers had two languages to choose from: first, a choice between the language of the Celts and that of their Anglo-Saxon conquerors; later, a choice between English and Latin; and later still, a choice between English and French. Lawyers started using a word from each language, joined in a pair, to express a single meaning. For example, free and clear comes from the Old English freo and the Old French cler. This redundant doubling was sometimes used for clarity, sometimes for emphasis, and sometimes just because it was the literary fashion. With the time doubling became traditional in legal language, and it is still true for many legal documents.
English-speaking lawyers traditionally use compound constructions and verbose idioms that use three or four words to do the work of one or two words. With respect to is often used instead of on; for the reason that instead of because. Many
compound constructions and word-wasting idioms such as because of the fact that can be trimmed from sentences with no loss of meaning.
Lawyers often use words and expressions, which have no meaning for laypersons, some of them coming from Latin or French.
For example:
bona fide - without fraud or deceit; corpus delicti - body of crime;
pro bono - for the public good (uncompensated legal services performed for the public good);
probus et legalis homo - a good and lawfull man; quod jussu - which was done by order; pro se - without an attorney;
nemo dat (quod non habet)—the principle that a person has no right to property acquired from a person who did not legally own it;
ad hoc - for this (special) purpose; id est (i. e.) - that is; sic - thus.
Today, the Plain Language Movement in legal writing is progressing and experts are trying to demystify legalese thus making the law more readable and understandable. Serious reform began in 1963 when David Mellinkoff, a law professor at UCLA Law School, published his scholarly and influential book «The Language of the Law». In the 1970-s President Richard Nixon ordered that the «Federal Register be written in «layman's terms». In 2010 President Barack Obama signed The Plain Writing Act requiring government documents be written in «plain language» defined as «writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience». «A government by the people and for the people should also be understood by the people» comments the allgov.com. Website.
However, some experts argue that it seems likely that legalese can survive for a long time to come. Perhaps the main
reason, they say, lies in the nature of law itself. Writing and rewriting laws is a slow, demanding, intricate and challenging process. Legislators need to find the words to cover every issue, circumstance and consequence, because people are always looking for a legal loophole, a way of avoiding a legal duty by making use of an ambiguity or an omission in law. Consequently, if there is an existing law, which has worked for a long time, even a law, which contains old language in long and complex sentences, it is easier to retain the old law than write a new one. Even when a government draws up a new law it is often guided by the wording of an older law.
In addition, the widespread expansion of legalese is greatly influenced by the comprehensive process of globalisation. Legal English has traditionally been the preserve of lawyers from English-speaking countries (especially the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) which have shared common law traditions. However, due to the spread of English as the predominant language of international business, as well as its role as a legal language within the European Union, legal English is now a global phenomenon.
Bibliography
1. Wydick R. C. Plain English for Lawyers. - Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 1998.
Брим Н. Е.
РОЛЬ ПОЭЗИИ В ОБРАЗОВАНИИ СТУДЕНТОВ ЯЗЫКОВЫХ СПЕЦИАЛЬНОСТЕЙ
Использование стихов, как показывает практика, является одним из эффективных средств овладения иностранным языком. Читая стихотворение, человек, приобщаясь к культуре другой страны, знакомится с различными функциями языка в общении: язык как средство познания, хранитель национальной культуры, средство общения и
