New Insights Into the Semantics of Legal Concepts and the Legal Dictionary


Book Description

This book focuses on legal concepts from the dual perspective of law and terminology. Exploring topics common to both disciplines such as meaning, conceptualization and specialized knowledge transfer, the book gives a state-of-the-art account of legal interpretation, legal translation and legal lexicography with special emphasis on EU law.




New Insights into the Semantics of Legal Concepts and the Legal Dictionary


Book Description

This book focuses on legal concepts from the dual perspective of law and terminology. While legal concepts frame legal knowledge and take center stage in law, the discipline of terminology has traditionally been about concept description. Exploring topics common to both disciplines such as meaning, conceptualization and specialized knowledge transfer, the book gives a state-of-the-art account of legal interpretation, legal translation and legal lexicography with special emphasis on EU law. The special give-and-take of law and terminology is illuminated by real-life legal cases which demystify the ways courts do things with concepts. This original approach to the semantics of legal concepts is then incorporated into the making of a legal dictionary, thus filling a gap in the theory and practice of legal lexicography. With its rich repertoire of examples of legal terms in different languages, the book provides a blend of theory and practice, making it a valuable resource not only for scholars of law, language and lexicography but also for legal translators and students.




Law and Cognitive Linguistics


Book Description

This book advances the prototype theory of categorisation within a legal context. The work adopts a multidisciplinary approach and draws on insights from cognitive psychology, cognitive linguistics, and analytic philosophy to discuss semantic problems present in law. Designed as a bridge between cognitive linguistics and legal theory, it argues that categorisation is a crucial cognitive operation for the application of law and that theories of categorisation are relevant to legal theory. It makes the case that the prototype approach is better suited than more formal approaches usually utilised in jurisprudence to explaining many familiar linguistic problems found in law, such as vagueness, polysemy, the flexibility of meaning, the generality of language, context dependence of meaning, linguistic indeterminacy, and so on. The book focuses on problems of semantic analysis in law, both in concrete cases, that is, particular cases before courts, and, at the theoretical level, on methods of statutory interpretation. It will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of Law and Language, Legal Theory, Legal Philosophy, and Legal Linguistics.




Language and Legal Interpretation in International Law


Book Description

International law is usually communicated in more than one language and reflects common norms that lawyers and adjudicators across national legal cultures agree on and develop together. As a result, the negotiation of the wording and meaning of international legislative texts is an integral part of legal interpretation in international law. This book sheds light on that essential interpretation process. Language and Legal Interpretation in International Law treats the subject from the perspective of recent legal and linguistic theories of meaning. Anne Lise Kjær and Joanna Lam bring together internationally renowned experts to provide strong theoretical and practical foundations for the study of legal interpretation in such fields as human rights law, international trade, investment and commercial law, EU law, and international criminal law. The volume explains how the positivist tradition--in which interpretation is understood as an automatic process by which judges simply apply the text of legislative instruments to specific fact situations--cannot be upheld in an era of pragmatic and cognitive meaning theories. Those theories instead focus on the context of interpretation and on the interpreter as a co-producer of meaning. Through a collection of thoroughly researched and timely essays, this book explores the linguistically and culturally diversified world of meaning-making in international law.




Between Text, Meaning and Legal Languages


Book Description

This collection on legal interpretation in a broad sense presents state-of-the-art linguistic approaches that are applied for studying interpretation and meaning generation in various legal settings. It covers different aspects of the concepts like judicial dissent, court argumentation, investigating sociological meaning, or comparing legal meaning in comparative law. Scholars can turn to the volume for methods and findings to ground their own inquiries, and students will find guides to topics and methods in the field of law, meaning generation, and language.




Language and Law


Book Description

The book provides an overview of EU competition law with a focus on the main developments in Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland and Croatia and offers an in-depth analysis of the role of language, translation and multilingualism in its implementation and interpretation. The first part of the book focuses on the main developments in EU competition law in action, which includes legislation, case law and praxis. This part can be divided into two subparts: the private enforcement of EU competition law, and the cooperation among enforcers, i.e. the EU Commission, the national competition authorities and the national courts. Language is of paramount importance in the enforcement of EU competition law, and as such, the second part highlights legal linguistic skills, showcasing the advantages and the challenges of multilingualism, especially in the context of the predominant use of English as the EU drafting and vehicular language. The volume brings together contributions prepared and presented as part of the EU-funded research project “Training Action for Legal Practitioners: Linguistic Skills and Translation in EU Competition Law".




Transnational, European, and National Labour Relations


Book Description

This book employs an innovative approach to explore the topic of flexicurity and related changes in the working world, the importance of which for the overall economic and social development is gradually being recognised. It focuses on the changing nature of work and its impact on EU law and national labour and social security laws. Though the transformation of regulatory and institutional frameworks of labour relations follows different patterns in different EU Member States, it is nevertheless a common phenomenon that offers an excellent opportunity for mutual learning experiences and comparing notes on best practices. Taking these ideas as a starting point, the book presents a collection of research on various aspects and implications of changing labour relations in the EU Member States. The opening chapters address the internal market dimension of the transformation of employment relations by investigating how social dumping, integration of migrant workers, and cross-border mergers influence national labour policies and laws. The book further analyses linguistic and terminological challenges in the field of labour law in the EU’s multi-lingual legal environment. Subsequent chapters cover various theoretical and practical issues, such as the impact of chain-liability regulatory models on the legal situation of workers in subcontracting networks, and modern work arrangements in the collaborative or ‘gig’ economy. Other chapters are dedicated to issues of jurisdiction and law applicable to individual employment contracts, as well as alternative resolution mechanisms in labour disputes. The next section offers fresh insights on and a critical overview of the well-known Danish and Dutch models of flexicurity, often cited as role models for reforms of labour markets in other EU Member States. Three individual chapters investigate specific aspects of flexicurity in Croatia, in terms of individual dismissals, life-long learning and the impact of non-standard employment on future pension entitlements. One paper explores temporary agency work in Germany as an important instrument of flexicurity, while another discusses various forms of work used in Slovenia in the context of flexibilization of work relations. Many challenges still lie ahead, and the primary aim of this book is to provide a solid basis for informed future discussions.




Handbook of Terminology


Book Description

As a core component of legal language used to draft, enforce and practice law, legal terms have fascinated lawyers, linguists, terminologists and other scholars for centuries. Third in the series, this Handbook offers a comprehensive compendium of the current state of knowledge on legal terminology. It is the first attempt to bring together perspectives from the domains of Terminology, Translation Studies, Linguistics, Law and Information Technology in a single place. This interdisciplinary endeavour comprises systematic reviews, case studies and research papers which overview key properties of legal terms and concepts, terminological tools and resources, training aspects, as well as translation in national contexts and multilingual organizations. The Handbook attests to the complex multifaceted nature of legal terminology and showcases its cultural, communicative, cognitive and social contexts in diverse legal systems. It is a rich resource for scholars, practitioners, trainers and students, presenting vibrant research and practice in this area.




Research Handbook on Jurilinguistics


Book Description

This Research Handbook offers a comprehensive study of jurilinguistics that not only presents the latest international research findings among academics and practitioners, but also provides a new approach to the phenomena and nature of communicative flexibility, legal genres, vulnerability of interlingual legal communication, and the cultural landscape of legal translation.




Intersemiotic Legal Translation


Book Description

The translation of legal documents in today’s globally interconnected world calls for novel approaches to overcoming traditional language barriers. The verbal language used in legal documents can be accompanied or even replaced by various types of semiotic resource, such as symbols, diagrams, and icons, while the advancement of digital tools and the introduction of new technologies offer those drafting contracts and other legal documents access to an ever-expanding toolbox for the translation process. This book makes a significant contribution to the existing literature on legal translation and intersemiotic translation by sharing valuable insights and opening up new avenues of inquiry, fostering further exploration of this evolving domain and enabling practitioners to use these diverse communication tools responsibly and effectively. Given the book’s structured multidisciplinary approach and extensive analyses of the characteristics of intersemiotic legal translation, its potential, and the complexities that arise at the intersection of law, language, and semiotics, it will appeal to legal practitioners, translators, semiotic scholars, and legal philosophers alike. Whether you are a legal professional aiming to expand your expertise, an academic seeking a new research direction, or are simply intrigued by the fascinating interplay of law, language, and semiotics, this book offers a valuable resource that sheds light on the unique dynamics of translating legal concepts using approaches other than traditional verbal communication. As such, it is an essential read for anyone who is interested in the changing landscape of law, language, and translation.