Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10463
Title: Sociolinguistics and the law
Contributor(s): Eades, Diana  (author)
Publication Date: 2011
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10463
Abstract: Language use is central to everything that happens in the legal process, and legal professionals share with sociolinguists a fascination with how language works. Thus, the legal process is an institutional context of considerable interest to sociolinguists. From the beginnings of sociolinguistic investigations of language in the legal process, about three decades ago, there has been a focus on issues of power. This is hardly surprising, since legal systems exist in large measure to exercise control, over actions deemed unacceptable, unlawful, or unfair. Following the developments in sociolinguistic studies of language and the law provides an insight into the ways in which sociolinguistics as a discipline has theorized and examined power over the last three decades or so. It also provides a good view of broader developments within the discipline, in terms of approaches to data collection, analysis, and theory-building. Most sociolinguistic research on language and the law which has been published in English has been undertaken in the common law legal system, in countries such as Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA as well as other former British colonies, with some work also in the continental legal system found in most of Europe. While there are many local variations, the most striking differences between the two systems lie in the adversarial nature of legal proceedings and the reliance on judge-made or case law in the common law system, in contrast to the inquisitorial nature of legal proceedings and the reliance on written codes of law in the continental legal system. Sociolinguistic research on the common law legal system in English-speaking countries has concentrated on criminal proceedings more than civil proceedings.
Publication Type: Book Chapter
Source of Publication: The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics, p. 377-395
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Place of Publication: Cambridge, United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781139142373
9781139144032
9780521897075
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 180119 Law and Society
200405 Language in Culture and Society (Sociolinguistics)
200403 Discourse and Pragmatics
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 940499 Justice and the Law not elsewhere classified
949999 Law, Politics and Community Services not elsewhere classified
HERDC Category Description: B1 Chapter in a Scholarly Book
Publisher/associated links: http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/158274407
http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521897075
Series Name: Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
Editor: Editor(s): Rajend Mesthrie
Appears in Collections:Book Chapter
School of Psychology

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