Legal Terminology

1. Legal Terminology Chapter 4

2. Terminology • Terminology - the study of terms and their use. • Terms arewords that in specific contexts are given specific meaningsthatmay deviate from the meaning ofthe same words in other contexts and in everyday language. • Terminology studies how such terms come to be and their interrelationships within a culture. • Terminology differs fromlexicography in studying concepts, conceptual systems, and their labels (terms), whereas lexicography studieswords and their meanings.

3. Legal concepts • Law – a socialphenomenon • Legal rulesdifferindifferentlegalorders • Legal conceptsalsodiffer

4. Legal concepts • “…Legal sciencediffersfromthe natural sciences: thelawsof nature are the same everywhere. Thedifference is evidentintherelationshipbetweenlanguageanditsobject. Thelanguageof a natural sciencecannot change reality: if a plant is describedwrongly or inaccurately, it remains as it was none theless. But ifthelegislator, in a new law, describes a legal phenomenonotherwisethaninanearlierlaw, thenthelegalrealitychanges: lawonlyexistsin human language” (Brækhus 1956)

5. Legal concepts • Wheretheconceptsoftwo legal systems differ, thesemanticdomainsof legal terms do notcorrespondwith one another • Historicalinteractionbetweensocieties: legal conceptsofSwedenandFinland- veryclose, sinceFinlandformedpartoftheKingdomofSweden for over 6 centuries; Englandandthe US: Englishlawwas applied intheformercolonies

6. Legal familiesandconceptualkinship • Commonlaw • Civil law • Europeanlaw

7. Commonlawand civil law • Civil-lawsystemdevelopedinmedievaluniversities on thebasisof Roman law; itsdivisionsandconceptsformulated first on thebasisofsubstantivelawfoundedon a numberofabstractprinciples • Commonlaw: formedinthecourtsofEnglandfollowingthe Norman Conquest; theconceptualapparatus – definedbytherequirementsofmedievaljudicial procedure

8. Commonlawand civil law • Commonlaw – placed on judicial procedure; Englishjudges – higher status thantheircontinentalcounterparts • Europeanlaw: continuinglyunifyingthe legal ordersoftheMemberStates

9. The Legal SystemoftheEuropeanCommunities • A legal systemofits own, partlysuperimposed on thoseofMemberStates • ThefoundingstatesoftheearlyCommunities - partofthe civil-law legal family, thelegalsystemoftheEuropeanCommunitiesalsobased on civil-lawfoundations

10. The Legal SystemoftheEuropeanCommunities • Frenchlaw – considerablyinfluencedtheprinciplesandbasicconceptsofCommunitylaw • Methodsofthe Court ofJustice - essentiallybased on thoseoftheFrenchConseil d’Etat; theinstitutionofcommissairedugouvernementserved as a model for thatofAdvocate-General

11. The Legal SystemoftheEuropeanCommunities • German law: principleofproportionalityandthatofreciprocalloyaltyand trust (inperformingcontracts); • The role ofacademic legal writingwhenthe ECJ takesitsdecision – a featureofthe German legal tradition

12. The Legal SystemoftheEuropeanCommunities • English influence: doctrineofprecedent (stare decisis) developsinharmonywithcommonlawtraditionsin ECJ; • The style ofjudgments: in 1950’s and 1960’s, ECJ judgments - stylisticcopiesofFrenchjudgments, esp. intheirconstructionanddisposition (e.g. the signal wordsattenduque); over time, the style ofthe Court became more independent: constructionofitsjudgmentsdoesnotcomedirectlyfromany legal orderofMemberStates

13. The Legal SystemoftheEuropeanCommunities • A hybrid, mixedlawinwhich legal traditionsof Europe increasinglyintertwine • Methodsofinterpretationof ECJ: a mixofdifferent legal traditions • InteractionbetweentheCommunityinstitutionsand national legal ordersin a waynotdirectlyborrowedfromany legal order

14. The Legal SystemoftheEuropeanCommunities • Anentirely new typeof legal system, withits own characteristics, developing side bysidewith civil lawandcommonlaw; applies to legal systematizationand to doctrinerelatingtosourcesoflawandtoindividualinstitutionsandprinciples

15. The Legal SystemoftheEuropeanCommunities • New elements - partlyevidentintheformofnewterminology, partlyhiddenbehindestablishedtermscomingchieflyfrom France; these old termspossess a new conceptualcontentinCommunitylaw

16. Characteristicsof legal terminology: LegalConceptsandLegalTerms • Concept: mentalrepresentationofanobject • Term: thetechnicaldesignationof a concept • Term – verbalexpressionof a conceptbelonging to theconceptualsystemof a LSP; maybe a single word, compound or a phrase(e.g. “goodfaith”, “freemovementofpersons”)

17. Characteristicsof legal terminology: LegalConceptsandLegalTerms • Terms – usuallynouns • Referent – entitythatexistsphysically or metaphysicallyandfulfilstheconditionsimposedby a concept (e.g. in France, 175 referentsoftheconceptof “general court of first instance (juridiction de droitcommundupremierdegréde l’ordrejudiciaire, expressedbytheterm “tribunal de grande instance”; bycontrast, only 1 referent connected to theconceptexpressedbytheterm “Cour de cassation”)

18. Characteristicsof legal terminology: LegalConceptsandLegalTerms • Legal terms: • notimaginablewithout a legal relationship; • canbeusedinothercontexts, but have a particularmeaningincertain legal relationships; • express legal factsincaseswherethefeatures “to whichtheLawattacheseffectsanswer to theconditionsthattheLawimposesandthusto a legal notionthatconfers on them a meaningwithregard to theLaw (e.g. “error”)

19. Characteristicsof legal terminology: LegalConceptsandLegalTerms • Legal termcanbe a word or phrasethatonlyappearsin legal language (“abuseofprocess”, “criminalresponsibility”), or a word or phrasethatformspartofordinarylanguage but has a specialmeaningin legal language (“consideration”)

20. 1 concept – 2 terms: examples • Sole proprietor(US) – sole trader(UK) • Articlesofassociation(UK) – Articlesofincorporation (US) • Memorandum ofassociation(UK) – by-laws(US) • Corporatelaw(US) – companylaw(UK) • Tort (English) – delict (Scottish)

21. How do termsandconcepts work inlaw? • Adversepossessionincommonlaw: a situationwheresomeonewithoutbeingowneracquiresunderspecificcircumstancesfull title to landagainst all othersincludingtherecordowner • To benefitfromthis, certainactsoveranuninterrupted period of time prescribedby statute are necessary

22. Adversepossession • Suchpossession must beactual, visible, open, notorious, hostile, underclaimofright, definite, continuousandexclusive

23. Adversepossession • 1) factualconstellationsinwhichpersonsoccupylandwhichdoesnotbelong to them • 2) circumstancesoftheacquisitionofpropertyby a non-ownerinanexceptionalsituation

24. Exceptionalsituation: requirements • 1) Legal constellations, like mortgage, which do notlead to adversepossession • Theconceptenables a regularargumentationinacaserelated to acquisitionofpropertyunderexceptionalcircumstances • Theargumentation must take place withintheindicated set ofsituations • Thesesituations must betestedtowardsthebackgroundoftheconceptsprovidedbythedoctrine to excludeabuse (exceptiontothe general rulethatprotectstherightfulowner)

25. Adversepossession • Theconceptsusedinthe test must beinterpreted • Interpretingtheconceptsfollowstheguidelinesofthedoctrine, sometimesexpressedindefinitions

26. Adversepossession • Thepossession is: • notoriouswhen it is open, undisguisedandconspicuous • Hostilewhen it takes place withoutthepermissionofanyoneclaimingparamount title and is coupledwiththeclaimofownership, express or implied, against all othersincludingtherecordowner (e.g. lease is not a caseofhostilepossession)

27. Adversepossession • Requirements for professional argumentationwhichmaynotbeaccessible to non-jurists • It must passthe test ofrationalitywithinthe legal community • Bothsituationalandconceptualrequirementsofcompleteness are necessary to maketheconceptualstructure work in legal argumentation • Thefinal test – thetestofrationalitypassedwithinthe legal community

28. Relativeexistenceof legal notions: discovery • Theexistenceof a legal notiondependsuponthewishofthelegislator • Whenthecomparativelawyer is dealingwiththecommonlaw procedure ofdiscoveryin a caseinvolvinga court in a civil lawcountry he willnotsimplyintroducethenotionofdiscoveryinto his systemicknowledgeofthisparticular civil law but perceive it as partoftheother, foreignlawsystem

29. discovery • He willnotapplytheproceduresofdiscoverybecausethey do notexist as longasthey are notanchoredinthe legal systembythelegislator • Thisanchoragemaybeconstitutedbythedecision to introducediscoveryintothisparticular civil lawsystem, or it maybe a resultofaprovisionrelated to theconflictoflaws, or a resultoflegislationconcerningrecognitionofforeignjudgments

30. Relativeexistenceof legal notions • Existing legal notionscanbemodified, replacedbyothers or abolished • Connectionsbetweentermandconcept – arbitrary

31. Impliedtermsandconcepts • Whathappenswhen a commonlawterme.g. punitivedamagesistranslated as condamnation à dommages et intérêtspunitifs or Strafschadensersatz – unknownintheFrenchor German legal systems

32. Impliedtermsandconcepts • E.g. Verhältnissmässigkeitsgrundsatzintroduced as principe de proportionnalitéintoFrench-language legal actswithinthe EU although it doesnotexistintheFrenchterminology

33. Emergenceof new legal-linguisticunits • A new torttermedintentionalinflictionofemotionaldistress–added to the list ofcommonlawtorts • Japaneselawdistinguishesbetweeninjury to honorandinjurytoreputation • Understandingof legal terminology - baseduponinstitutionlizedcreationandinterpretationoflegalconceptsandterms, mainlybythelegislatorandbycourts

34. Classificationofterms • Technical: promissoryestoppel, renvoi, certiorari • Meaningdifferentfromordinarylanguage: consideration, equity • Overlappingconcepts: domicile in UK and USA • Preferences: warrantypreferredin US, guaranteein UK; antitrustlegislation(US), competitionlegislation(UK), corporation (US), company (UK)

35. Scientifictermsintroducedintolaw • Termsfromothersciencesintroducedintostatutes • Do theyretaintheirmeaning? • Inthe materials accompaningpreparatory work intheParliament, interpretiveguidelines, definitionsandotherinformation is containedwhichallowstheinterpretationof a conceptwhen it becomespartof a statute • The materials mayintroduce a specificmeaning, broader or narrowerthanthescientific one

36. Scientifictermsintroducedintolaw • Medicaltermse.g. alchoholic or drug addictmaybeunderstoodinlawdifferently • Thescientifictermbecoming a legal termmayacquire a differentmeaning

37. The legal ‘shall’ • Anypersonbidding at theauctionshallstandsurety for his own debtuntilfullpayment is made for purchasedmerchandise • Shall – thebindingcharacter • Institutesthe legal speechactandintroducesthebindingforceoftheutterance, i.e. it establishesitsenforceability

38. The legal ‘may’ • Incertaincircumstances a police officermayaskthedriver to take a breath test • Ifconvicted, anaccusedpersonmayappeal • May = ‘haveright to’

39. Polysemy • Term – a verbalexpressionofaconcept • Legal terms – oftencharacterizedbypolysemy: depending on context, a singletermcan express severalconcepts • Polysemy - “allowsthevocabularyofthelanguage to transmittheinfinitelyvariedideasthat arise insocial life” (Vlasenko 1997)

40. Polysemy • Ruleratherthanexception • Legal orders are continuallychangingover time • Example: ius civile

41. Ius civile • Ancient Rome : referred to classical Roman law as opposed to iushonorarium on the one hand, and, on theother, to thelaw applied to Roman citizens (as opposed to iusgentium) • InByzantium, inmedieval Europe and at thebeginningofmoderntimes – referred to Roman lawand to temporal State law, as opposed to the divine law (iusdivinum) or natural law (ius naturale)

42. Ius civile • Inmedieval Europe, legal sciencefocused on thestudyofthosepartsoftheCorpusiuriscivilisdealingwith legal relationshipsbetweenprivateindividuals; a branchoflawrelative to relationsbetweenprivateindividuals

43. Ius civile • InEnglish: • Roman law • Continentallaw • Privatelaw

44. Ius civile • InGermany: ZivilrechtsynonymouswithPrivatrecht • In France, commerciallaw is notincludedin civil law

45. Orderlyanddisorderlypolysemy • Orderly (consistent) polysemy: a legal termhastwo or threecloselyconnectedmeanings; often: theconceptsexpressedby a term are hierarchical or partlyoverlapping • Example: commonlaw: 3 meaningsinEnglish; misleadingfromtheinternationalstandpoint

46. Commonlaw • Englishcommonlaw – differentfromthe pan-Europeaniuscommune • Englishcommonlaw – developedbyEnglishcourts • Iuscommune – lawdevelopedinEuropeanuniversitiesintheMiddleAgesandearlymoderntimes

47. Disorderly (inconsistent) polysemy • Meaningsofthetermdiverge to suchextentthatthey no longerhaveanythingincommon • French “prescription” and “disposition” • Prescription: 1) differentmodesofacquisition or extinction, 2) judicialorder or a legal rule • Disposition: 1) action to disposeof a good; 2) legal rule, a contractclause, or a headinthe operative partof a judgment

48. ConsequencesofPolysemy • When p. occurs, interpretersofthetextshouldbeable to assignto a termthemeaningappropriate to thecontext • Often – easy to distinguishbetweendifferentmeanings; sometimes – impossibletotellwhat is thecorrectinterpretationofthetext: ambiguity

49. Synonymy • Opposite to polysemy: two or severalterms express the same concept • E.g., wheremagistratesarrangeaninspection on the scene, legal Frenchuses: “visite deslieux”, “transport sure les lieus”, “descente sur les lieux”, or “vuedeslieux” • Synonymy – a commonfeatureof legal terms

50. Synonymy • In legal languageswithseverallayersoflanguage, such as English, this is especiallyfrequent • Legal Englishoftenexpressesthe same conceptbyan Anglo-Saxonterm, a Frenchterm, anda Latin term