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21 - Sociolinguistics and the law

from Part V - Applied sociolinguistics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Diana Eades
Edited by
Rajend Mesthrie
Rajend Mesthrie
Affiliation:
University of Cape Town
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Summary

Sociolinguistic research on the common law legal system in English-speaking countries has concentrated on criminal proceedings more than civil proceedings. Official courtroom transcripts are produced for courts as legal records, mainly for the purpose of appeals. The early study of courtroom talk was carried out by the Duke University Language and Law Project in the USA. This study was concerned with the influence of language factors on legal decision-making. The main focus of sociolinguistic research in police interviews has been on issues of comprehension and comprehensibility. The most important sociolinguistic work on language and the law has examined second language and second dialect speakers. Another important legal context which has received little attention from sociolinguists is the lawyer interview. This chapter also provides a brief consideration of two different ways in which sociolinguistic research is applied in the legal system: forensic linguistics, and sociolinguistic activism and legal education.

Keywords

Australiacode switchingHaugeninter-Scandinavian communicationmulticulturalismimmigrant-language diversityindividual multilingualismsocietal multilingualism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics , pp. 377 - 395
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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