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Is legal English “going European”? The case of the simple present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Christopher Williams
Christopher Williams*
Affiliation:
Foggia University
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Abstract

In many countries in continental Europe the simple present is extensively used in main clauses in legislative texts to express obligation. Several English-speaking legal systems have witnessed an increased usage of the simple present in legal English over the last few decades, largely at the expense of shall. I examine the continuing debate among law scholars and writers of legal drafting manuals over the adoption of the simple present in prescriptive texts in English. I conclude by observing that the decision in some countries to do away with shall would appear to be linked principally to socio-pragmatic factors relating to the way this modal auxiliary is perceived in many parts of the English-speaking world today, that is, as being outdated and smacking of “legalese”, a style of legal writing that plain language exponents have been trying to eliminate.

Résumé

Résumé

Dans bien des pays de l’Europe continentale le présent simple est abondamment utilisé dans les propositions principales de textes législatifs pour exprimer l’obligation. Depuis quelques décennies, on remarque dans plusieurs systèmes juridiques anglophones un emploi accru du présent simple, en bonne partie aux dépens de shall. J’examine le débat en cours parmi les spécialistes en droit et les auteurs de manuels de rédaction juridique à l’égard de l’adoption du présent simple dans des textes normatifs anglais. Je note que la décision dans certains pays d’éliminer shall semble relever de facteurs socio-pragmatiques quant à la manière dont cet auxiliaire modal est perçu dans bien des parties du monde anglophone d’aujourd’hui; c’est-à-dire, shall est perçu comme étant périmé et faisant partie du jargon juridique, un style de rédaction que les partisans du langage clair et simple (plain language), essaient d’éliminer.

Keywords

legal Englishsimple presentshallplain languagedraftinganglais juridiqueprésent simpleshallplain languagerédaction
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 58 , Issue 1: Temporal and modal dimensions of legal discourses , March 2013 , pp. 105 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 2013

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