The importance of Roman law Latin in European culture Latin – universal language of lawyers Latin in Canon Law Latin in modern legal languages Communication value of legal Latin
Latin – lingua franca between diverse populations of the Empire
Byzantine Empire – Greek The boundary between the zones of
dominance of these languages ran from north to south along the centre of the Empire: it crossed the Balkans and ran along the eastern side of the territories of today’s Tunisia
In Western Europe, Roman law as a coherent legal system disappeared with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476
Maintained at a very high level in the Byzantine Empire530’s Emperor Justinian codified this law:
Corpus iuris Civilis: basis of ius commune, founded on a logical system of concepts
Ius comune – common to countries of continental Europe
Lawyers from continental Europe (and some other countries) speak the same conceptual language
With the downfall of the Roman Empire, written culture grew weak, and Germanic tribes settled on the western territories of the former Empire
Latin as a spoken language moved further and further away from classical Latin (spoken language already diverged from the written language in Imperial times)
Thanks to Catholic church, Latin retained its position in medieval Europe as the dominant written language
After the fall of the Roman Empire – written Latin was of poor quality
Carolingian Renaissance (reform of the school system by Charlemagne at the end of 8th c.) raised the level of written Latin
In the Middle Ages – literary works written in Latin; it is estimated that the number of medieval works in Latin was 50 times greater than that of works in Latin during Antiquity
From the end of the Middle Ages – scientific progress, technical inventions
Printing Science- produced in Latin: “an ocean of
Latin literature”; foundations of modern science – cast in neo-Latin (Kepler, Newton, Galvani, Linnaeus, et al.)
During the Middle Ages, Latin became transformed stylistically and grammatically, moving closer to Romance languages; medieval authors made use of prepositions and subordinate clauses more often then authors of Antiquity
As a reaction, Humanist scholars restored the style and grammar of classical Latin, by imitating the Latin authors of Antiquity
Latin became more difficult
Restoring the stylistic and grammatical canons of the Latin of Antiquity brought about the demise of Latin as a tool of communication at the national and international level
Latin – too difficult for non-Latinist scholars to have a command of
Strenghtening of nation states, and use of the national languages as a tool of their power politics
Use of Latin as a language of science began to diminish even in 17th, above all in the 18th c.
France sought to replace Latin with her own national language
End of 18th c. national languages had ousted Latin
Smaller nations, whose languages were not instruments of power in the international arena, kept to the use of Latin
Given the conservatism of legal circles, the transition from Latin to new national languages – particularly slow; especially – science and teaching of law
Theoretical legal works written in Latin until the 19th c.
Cc. 4000 new legal works published in Latin in 16th c.
Although Latin is no longer the language of legal science or of legal practice – leaving aside canon law – it has left important traces in modern legal languages
The style of modern legal languages still reflects the rhythm of old legal Latin
A large proportion of the vocabulary of modern legal languages comes from the legal Latin used in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, or the beginning of modern times
Modern texts – direct Latin quotations: terms, expressions, maxims
Latin – a stylistic tool; an aesthetic medium; the need to impress the reader
By using Latin expressions and maxims, a lawyer sets out to show his professional competence
Latin expressions and maxims - “beloved folklore” of lawyers
A high status value in the Western world A symbol linking legal science and practical
lawyering to the common European tradition
Latin maxims: on the walls of courthouses Seals of judicial authorities – often adorned
with such expressions; also: emblems of public organs and law
societies or bar associations
Common heritage - facilitates communication between lawyers from various countries
Often: variants of Latin origin look alike, or expressions translated directly from Latin mean different things in different linguistic zones
However: “each language…possesses its own Latin and its own way of using it”
The same expressions and maxims – not used in all countries, and their meaning is not necessarily the same
Today’s lawyers – lack an adequate knowledge of Latin
In the future as today, only some lawyers have a good command of Latin
International legal Latin dictionary should be compiled, bringing together the expressions actually in use in different legal cultures, indicating their meaning in each of these cultures
Leges barbarorum: lex Salica, lex Ribuaria Primitive compilations: no general concepts
(e.g.distinction between theft of a pig, a calf, a dog, etc;theft of a pig: 16 legal provisions)
Barbarian laws – drawn up in Latin Latin loanwords: e.g. Pacht (‘lease’) <
pactum
Latin of medieval Germanic laws - a mixture of Germanic and Roman styles
In court hearings – German judges always used the vernacular (dialects of Old German)
In 800 the Pope crowned Charlemagne Roman Emperor
When the empire was later divided, the tradition continued: Otto I got the centre of the Empire (today’s Germany and northern Italy) and was crowned Roman Emperor in 962: the (Germanic) Holy Roman Empire (Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation. Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicae)
Over time, the Empire grew increasingly powerless in relation to the regional power centres
Power of the emperor diminished, that of regional princes flourished
Formally, the Empire lasted until 1806
Old legal German, based on dialects – not uniform
Some terms – still used: anfechten (‘annul’), bescheinigen (‘to certify’), erweisen (‘to demonstrate’), verantworten (‘to be answerable for’, ‘guarantee’)
Level of abstraction – low: large number of words to describe concrete cases
Use of synonyms or quasi-synonyms
The Holy Roman Empire - no uniform legal system created by the imperial legislator
Laws – local Customary law – did not correspond to the
needs of a German society characterised by rapid progress
Need for an advanced legal system
European universities taught Roman law Not classical Roman law but ius commune
(Gemeines Recht), created by medieval lawyers
In harmony with Canon law, created on the basis of Roman law
Roman law – stressed the status of the Empire as a continuation of the original Roman Empire
Judges of higher German courts – lawyers with a university education
In 1495 Imperial Court set up (Reichskammergericht)
Reichskamergericht applied Roman law (also partly Canon law)
Recognition by the imperial power of Roman law as the basis for German common law (Gemeines Recht)
Beneath the Reichskammergericht stood the lower imperial courts, which also applied Roman law
As the application of Roman law spread in the German justice system, lay judges began asking legal scholars for opinions
Case files - sent to universities German law faculties provided a kind of
higher court service esp. in 16th and 17th centuries
First professors of law – trained in Italy, in Roman law
Primitive commentaries on local German laws could not match refined legal doctrines of the Italian universities
Professors moved from country to country Intellectualisation of German law; need for
judges with a theoretical legal training
Official languages for the Holy Roman Empire for the whole of its existence: German and Latin
Medieval period: emperor should have a command of the language of the Church; heard proposals from his council in Latin, responding in the same language
After the Reformation, the protestant States used new German written standard (Hochdeutsch) since Low German was no longer accepted in the Diet
Latin loanwords Legal German – more abstract and precise From the end of 15th c. German legal
terminology was systematised and partly Latinised
During the reception period, Latin gave some 80% loanwords in German
By mid-18th c. German-language legislation – still full of linguistically mixed texts, with many Latin quotations
17th c. – French became a dominant power, spreading its language and culture to other countries, including the Holy Roman Empire
Spanish and Italian – also used in some situations
Influence of French on German – stronger in the late 17th and early 18th c. than that of English today
Many French loanwords: in the mid-17th c. the number of French loanwords comparable to that of Latin loanwords
French – internal language of the Prussian Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
in some cases – treaties between two or more German-speaking states – concluded in French
18th c.: ideal citizen – active, aware of his rights, rather than the passive subject of former times,
Rights of citizens to obtain information on legal rules
Requirement for clear legal language and drafting of intelligible codes
Legal language should be concise, simple and understandable
It should be short, in the image of military orders
Legal texts should be clearly constructed, mysterious abbreviations and complex sentence structures abandoned, the use of Latin curtailed, words of foreign origin replaced by German words
Herman Conring (1606-1681): “If you use a foreign language or one known only to the learned, you are doing a (great) wrong to the people”
Internal decay of the Holy Roman Empire in 17th c. following the Thirty Years War
To regain national unity, the German language was needed as a cohesive factor
Legal science: the choice of language of works presented at book fairs in Leipzig:
Books in Latin 1701:55% 1740 :27% 1770 :14% Legal theses – published in Latin until the
mid 19th c.
End of 18th c.: German – the main language of German legal culture;
Latin – subsidiary means of clarifying new or difficult terms
Binary formulas - facilitated understanding of terminology: purely German words clarifying the meaning of foreign words: publice und öffentlich, bona fide und unter gutem Glauben
More radical demands: Legal German had to be entirely cleansed of foreign words: methodical Germanisation (Eindeutschung) of the German language
No need for loanwords, since any subject could be dealt with by using purely German words
Enlightenment: the world had to be conceptualised as a rational system, functioning with virtually mathematical accuracy
In law: the major systematic codifications were an expression of this notion
Allgemeines Landesrecht für die preussischen Staaten (ALR, 1794), codification of Prussian substantive law covering constitutional and administrative rights as well as private law, Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (ABGB, 1811), a codification of Austrian civil law
Bavarian Kriminalgesetzbuch (1813)
In 19th c. Germany was unified and rose to the position of a great power
National language – important reflection of nationalism
Cleansing the German language of foreign influences intensified with strengthened nationalism; many neologisms
19th c. number of words of foreign origin fell from 4-5 to 0.5% (e.g. Alimentation . Unterhalt, Desertion – Verlassung, Citation – Ladung ‘ summons’, Kopie – Abschrift)
Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (1900) almost completely Germanised terminology of German private law (Papierdeutsch)
The most celebrated piece of German legislation
Excellent internal logic of the codes (on the model of natural sciences) but its content is not easily understood from the reader’s standpoint
A monument of refined legal scholarship; written for judges versed in law, not for laymen
Conceptual hierarchisation, “pyramids of concepts”
Rechtsgeschäft ‘legal act’, ‘juristic act’, ‘act in law’, ‘legal transaction’, ‘transaction’, ‘juridical act’; Willenserklärung ‘declaration of intent’, ‘declaration of will’, ‘declaratory act’, ‘act of a party’; Schuldverhältnis ‘ legal relationship etween creditor and debtor’, ‘obligation’, ‘debt relationship’
Many articles can only be understood when placed side by side with other articles located elsewhere in the code
Authors of the code sought to use each legal term in a single meaning
Power of BGB lies in the formalisation of its rules, balance of structures and general principles of civil law
The code has remained in force despite great social and economic changes of 20th c.
In force in DDR before promulgation of the East German Civil Code in 1975
Reception in far-off countries such as Brazil and Japan
In Switzerland – use of foreign words more common than in Germany; the number of these words – two times greater in the Swiss Civil Code (Zivilgesetzbuch, ZGB) than in the German Civil Code
Legal German – a certain number of words of foreign origin; apart from Latin, they often come from Renaissance Italian, esp. in commerce: Bank, Konto, Risiko, Giro,
French words – terminology of international law: Konvention, Intervention
Today: English (franchising, leasing)
German used in several countries: Federal Republic of Germany Austria Switzerland Eastern Belgium North of Italy (South Tyrol)
South Tyrol – German terminology developed so that it is possible to use it to express every Italian institution; they sought to know if an Italian legal concept could be expressed by a term already adopted in Austria, Switzerland or Germany without the danger of misleading conclusions; where that was not possible – Italian loanword or a neologism created on the basis of German; as a result, a bilingual dictionary of legal and administrative language of South Tyrol published: terms in German and Italian, definitions in both languages
Austria had its own legal and administrative system, whose terminology was created in 19th c. without the influence of the Eindeutschung movement
Terms that were unknown in Germany and the meanings of the same terms could be divergent
Ruling classes in Austria - in contact with non-German linguistic groups; a cultivated use of German developed, with no basis in German dialects: Schönbrunnerdeutsch or Hofratsdeutsch
Legal German in Germany and Austria - identical: same traditions
Conceptual identity; legal terminology – similar
Differences: some 650 Austrian terms differ from corresponding terms in Germany (13%)
Defferences: designations of courts
Austrian accession – minor changes in legal and administrative language
Law – harmonized by directives, with their character of framework laws
This allows preservation of traditional Austrian terminology because final rules are formulated in Austria
Regulations of direct application – use the terminology of the Federal Republic of Germany
Historically – German was an important means of communication in the regions surrounding the Baltic Sea (notably in the Hanseatic era) and in Eastern Europe
Solid population base In 1800, German was the largest language in
Europe Late 19th and early 20th c. official language in
a substantial part of Europe Large number of peoples of Central and Eastern
Europe - In the immediate sphere of influence of German; also: Alsace and Lorraine belonged to the German Empire
Defeat in World War II; cultural attraction of German diminished; eastern regions of the country annexed to Poland and the Soviet Union
International position of German – inferior to that of English and French
Today: 90 million German speakers in Europe; the corresponding figures worldwide: 120 million
Economic weight: German occupies 3rd place worldwide
International spread of laws of German-speaking countries (Baltic countries, Nordic countries, Central Europe, Eastern Europe) - German political, economic and cultural influence
In Middle Ages, the Law of Magdeburg applied in Vilnius; Ukrainian documents from 16th to 18th c. refer to Sachsenspiegel code as a valid source of law; in partitioned Poland, the legislation of Prussia and Austria was applied
19th c.: spectacular success of German science, which rose to a dominant world position in many disciplines
In 1920’s and 1930’s German was the main language of international congresses in physics and linguistics
The position of German as an international scientific language weakened after World War II
German – not an international language outside Europe; official status only in 3 global organisations and in 12 European organisations
EU: in 1994, only 6% of EU civil servants mainly used German in oral communication; the number of civil servants using German but with another mother tongue - still smaller
7
842 Oath of Strasbourg: Latin and Old French
Philip the Fair (1268-1314) introduced French to the royal chancellery; the king’s example spread to the chancelleries of dukes and counts, city administrations and private documents
The king stressed the importance of dropping Latin from the administration of law and government
In 13th c. French widely used in northern France
Mid-13th c. French was established language for legal documents, at least in the north
13th c.: over 2,000 documents drawn up in French
Judicial matters pleaded in French in the Middle Ages in northern France
Expansion of French began after the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), which had increased the power of the king of France
Linguistic unification – highly useful from the standpoint of the exercise of power
Legal and administrative language of Paris began to challenge Latin earlier than any other language
Therefore, the government and the courts played a role of prime importance in the development of French; a large part of their vocabulary transmitted to ordinary language
French orthography also goes back to the practices of administrative and judicial organs
Status of Latin weakened as a result of the Reformation
The Humanists set up the style of the Roman classics as the model – crippled the use of Latin for everyday purposes
16th and 17th c. French ousted Latin in government and courts
At universities, the change was slower In mid-17th c. French law faculties – still used
Latin, traditional language of Roman law, ius commune and canon law
In 1679 Louis XIV had French law included in law faculty programmes; somewhat later, ordered that this law should be taught in French
Teaching of French law in French - only truly launched in 18th c.
Legal theses still written in Latin in 19th c.
Decree of Villers-Cotterêt (1539): judgements and procedural acts were to be pronounced, recorded and delivered to the parties in “the French mother tongue and not in any other form”.
1629 French became the language of Church courts
Language of culture, literature, science
Decree of Lyon (1510) still refers to langue de pays
Decree of Viller-Cotterêt (1539) speaks explicitly of French - end of the use of the Romance languages of the Midi
Judgements and other legal documents had to be drawn up in French, old languages of provinces excluded; protests in non-French speaking regions
At the time of the Revolution, 25 million inhabitants: 6 million did not understand French, 6 million understood it at the basic level, 10 million had a passable knowledge of French
Revolutionary decrees obliged civil servants to use French and draw up all public documents in it
French – the language of the army Compulsory military service, the press,
postal services and railways increased the movement of the population and consolidated the central administration
Latin terms transmitted from Antiquity by continuous tradition (loi<lex, juge <judex, justice < iustitia, délit < delictum, société<societas)
Medieval Latin: contumace < contumax ‘contempt’, ‘non-appearance in court’
Greek: démocratie, politique Neologisms which were never used in Latin
or Greek: autogestion, monoparental; today, legal neologisms of Graeco-Latin origin often come from English
Italian loanwords: banqueroute, change English loanwords: franchising, dumping,
leasing
Cartesian spirit: texts constructed in a logical and methodological way
Legal rules – systematically assembled in codes
Legal texts – difficult to understand: long, complicated sentences, impersonal expressions, passive and negative forms (il n’est pas exclu que ‘ it is not impossible that’); limited use of adjectives, abundance of nouns; stereotyped phrases (e.g. dont acte ‘in witness/faith/verification’), archaisms, petrified expressions (ci-après ‘hereafter’, ledit, susdit ‘aforesaid’
Repetitions less frequent than in legal English, but: e.g. nous avons arrêté et arrêtons ‘we have decided and do decide’
Petrified phrases: executory formulas for judicial decisions systematising the grounds of judgments: attendu que and considérant que
Form requirements in verbs: grounds should always be written in the indicative; using the conditional can lead to the judgment being quashed
Association pour le bon usage du français dans l’administration, Commission de modernisation du langage judiciaire, Centre d’enregistrement et de révision des formulaires administratifs
Terms felt to be discriminatory – replaced Courts should eliminate useless repetitions Latin maxims should be reduced Clarity of legal language Today: struggle against Anglicisms
University of Paris founded in 13th c. Professors contributed greatly to the
development of Canon law and ius commune
Added impetus to the theory of international private law, esp. in 16th c.
Many French legal works translated into Italian in 19th c.
From the early 19th c. several foreign countries have received French codes, particularly the Civil Code (1804)
The Civil Code - a model for corresponding codes in various countries (Rhineland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Poland, Rumania; Quebec, Louisiana, Latin American countries; Egypt, Ethiopia, Maghreb)
French administrative justice contributed to the birth of German administrative legal science in the late 19th c.
Homogeneity of the legal languages of France and Belgium – French-speaking part of Belgium has tended until recently to look for inspiration almost exclusively to the legal culture of France, and not to the legal culture of Dutch-speaking Belgium, not to mention that of the Netherlands
Legal French of Switzerland – partly original with respect to Legal French of France – legal traditions essentially Germanic
German – the language of preparation of laws Zivilgesetzbuch (Civil Code) – translated into
French Fusion of Germanic and Romance legal cultures French-speaking legal circles imitate the
language of the dominant Germanic legal culture Belief that concordance of content of the German
and French variants of laws can only be guaranteed by literal translation of terms
French law – model abroad French legal influence – esp. strong in Italy Italian law and legal science developed in the
direction indicated by French models New Italian legal terms often came from
France In Italian regions annexed to the French
Empire (Piedmont, Parma, Piacenza, Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Corsica) – decrees and administrative circulars published in both French and Italian
Rumanian Civil Code – almost a direct copy of the French Civil Code
Not repealed even during the Communist period
Rumanian civil law terminology – based on French
The legal order systematised in the same way in all Romance countries; similarities in legal terms – not misleading
Up to the 17th c. Latin was the main language of inter-state relations
Bilateral and multilateral treaties – drawn up in Latin
Following the rise of France to a dominant position, the use of French spread in the international arena as a language of diplomacy and international law
The Holy Roman Empire insisted on the use of Latin, while French ambassadors presented documents in French
From 1676, all ambassadors of France spoke French in their countries of accreditation
French spread to international treaties to which France was not a party
Dominance of French – so strong that it was used in cases where action was directed against France or even in cases involving her defeat: at the Congress of Vienna (1815) French remained the language of negotiations and Treaty language
1871, during peace negotiations following Franco-Prussian war, Otto von Bismarck used French
End of 18th c: the US decided to use only English in their diplomatic relations;
20th c. English began to threaten the position of French in international relations, and acquired dominance in this field
16th c. France became a colonial power: colonies in North America
French Canada (1534-1760) British Canada (1760-1867) “Canadian Canada” (1867)
History of legal language – closely linked to legal translation
Before the British conquest - Canadian French – high quality
After the British conquest - poor translators corrupted the language
End of 18th c. public law and the judicial system in Quebec were anglicised; this required rapid translation into French of a large number of laws and other legal English texts, to be applied to the French-speaking population
Laws were prepared exclusively in English until 1867
Translators – no specialised training Fastidiousness and repetitiveness of legal
English – repeated in legal French of Quebec (e.g. il sera levé, perçu et payé à sa Majesté ‘it shall be raised, levied and paid to His Majesty’ – repetition of synonyms)
Between the early 1790’s and the mid-19th c. legal French in Canada moved very far from that in France
Legal English – expressed a completely different legal culture
French-Canadian legal texts – full of anglicisms (acte ‘loi’ (act), délai ‘retard’ (delay); évidence ‘preuve’ (evidence), offence ‘infraction’ (offence)
Act of Union (1840) prescribed that English was the only official language in Canada
Strong resistance of French speakers Recognition of French by public authorities The Constitution of 1867 recognised the
language rights of French speakers 1960’s Peaceful Revolution – the status of
Quebec consolidated
Importance of legal translation decreased thanks to autonomous preparation of laws in French
Today: French is the only official language in Quebec
Quebec National Assembly adopts all its laws in French
Both English and French – official languages of Canada, but only at the level of the federal government and its institutions
Legal texts of the Canadian parliament – always translated into both languages
Drafts of Canadian federal laws – worked out simultaneously in English and French: co-drafting
The quality of the original draft – more easily revealed by comparing the two language versions than by examining a single version
Terminological work and the principle of co-drafting have freed Canadian French from the patronage of English
Canadian legislative work brings fresh elements into the French language because the specific conditions imposed by legal texts oblige the Canadians to be creators, surrendering the mental comfort created by preserving what is old and certain
Quebec: common law of English origin intermingles with law of French origin: mixed law
Public law comes from common law, private law is mainly continental
A French-style notarial profession – an important element of the Quebec legal system
Hierarchy of sources of law - continental
Quebec legal French: the need to express traditional common law concepts in French and vice versa
In some cases – terms from French law obtained a meaning different from that in France: danger of mistakes and misunderstandings in communications with France
At the time when English common law was created, legal circles were using French
Institutions peculiar to common law – expressed in French
By highlighting the original form of common law terms, it is possible to fashion terms that are authentically French, with a character at once old and new
Terminological work enabled compilation of legal dictionaries containing, in French, the terminology of various branches of common law (e.g. law of property, trusts, torts)
“The mixed character of Quebec legal French is also in evidence in the fact that Latin maxims appearing in this form of French come both from the traditional Latin of common lawyers and from the Latin used as established in France.”
19th c. French colonies in North Africa and Black Africa
The Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco) – multilingual regions
French – the sole official language of the region in 19th c.
Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya
In today’s Maghreb, only Arabic is the official language;
more people today with a command of French than at the end of the colonial era (French- language of higher education and upward social mobility)
French – sole official language in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa), the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), the Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Chad, Togo
Traditional justice, based on customary law and administered by village elders – African languages
In Rwanda and Burundi- government and local courts use regional languages, while the central authorities and higher courts use French
Djibuti: justice is administered in four languages; higher courts only operate in French, while the Islamic courts (sharia courts) always use Arabic
In courts applying traditional customary law, procedural languages: Arabic, Somali or Afar.
In all cases, judgments are drawn up in French so that they can be enforced
Sub-Saharan Africa – customary laws The French colonial power codified some of
these Customary laws – inadequate for modern
society; completed by French law France abolished customary rules if they
were in contradiction with the fundamental European values, esp. in criminal law
French Criminal Code – applicable throughout French-ruled Africa
French used in Black Africa - the same as that in France
North Africa – Islamic tradition; Arabic quotations in legal French of Maghreb, notably in traditional branches of law expressing concepts from the sharia
Local traditions and conditions also reflected in African legal French
In a large part of the world French is still the official language (Canada, Northern, Western, Central Africa)
In Europe: Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg
Establishment of the European Communities – new importance of French: one of three procedural languages
Global organisations
International community promoting the interests of French culture
Some countries where French is the official language – not members of Francophonia (Algeria, Switzerland)
49% international organisations accord French the status of official language
International organisations for legislative harmonisation: e.g. the Hague Conference on Private International Law, charged with drafting conventjons in private international law and international procedural law; until 1960, draft conventions only drawn up in French; today, French and English are used
Unidroit (Institute international pour l’unification du drolit privé) – originally attached to the League of Nations, today and international organisation aiming to unify national legislation on private law; previously operated only in French; currently, several languages possess the official status; English and French used as working languages; Revue de droit uniforme/Uniform Law Review - bilingual
French – important in preparation of EU legal rules
Working language of ECJ: decisions drawn up in French, although only the version in the procedural language is authentic
French language division has to translate into French all documents lodged by parties in a language other than French
Periodicals on European law Legal culture and techniques - received from
the outset from France: it is always simple to describe a legal system by using the language by which the system was originally created
OLD ENGLISH (c. 450- c. 1100) MIDDLE ENGLISH (c. 1100- c.1450) MODERN ENGLISH (c. 1450 - )
OLD NORSE Lexical words Nouns: birth, bull, dirt, egg, fellow, husband, leg, sister,
skin, sky, skirt, window Adjectives: ill, low, odd, rotten, sly, weak Verbs: call, crawl, die, get, give, lift, raise, scream, take, Function words Pronouns: they (their, them) Conjunctions: though Determiners: some, any Auxiliaries: are Names Family names: -son: Johnson, Stevenson Place names: -by 'farm, town': Derby, Rugby, Whitby; -
thorp 'village': Althorp, Linthorp
Administration Authority, bailiff, baron, chamberlain, chancellor, constable,
council, court, crown, duke, empire, exchequer, government, liberty, majesty, mayor, messenger, minister, noble, palace, parliament, prince, realm, reign, revenue, royal, servant, sir, sovereign, statute, tax, traitor, treason, treasurer, treaty
Law Accuse, advocate, arrest, arson, assault, assize, attorney,
bail, bar, blame, convict, crime, decree, depose, estate, evidence, executor, felon, fine, fraud, heir, indictment, inquest, jail, judge, jury, justice, larceny, legacy, libel, pardon, perjury, plaintiff, plea, prison, punishment, sue, summons, trespass, verdict, warrant
Military Ambush, archer, army, battle, besiege, captain, combat,
defend, enemy, garrison, guard, lance, lieutenant, navy, retreat, sergeant, siege, soldier, vanquish
“All lawsuits shall be conducted in English, because French is much unknown in the said realm”
“The English tongue is of small account, stretching no further than this island of ours, nay not there over all.”
After the Norman conquest (1066) To consolidate his dominance, the king
sought to centralise the justice system by establishing the Royal Courts of Justice at Westminster
Powerful vassals resisted the centralisation of justice
Royal Courts – able to adjudicate cases falling clearly within the king’s competence
Progressively, increasing categories of cases transferred to these Courts
Court judgments - importance that went beyond the particular cases in which they had been pronounced
To specify the conditions and limits of the binding effect of judgments, a refined rule of precedent was progressively created
The legal system built by case law strengthened the position of judges
During the Middle Ages, Royal Courts – archaic and formalistic judicial organs
The Chancellor began to recify judgments of the Courts of Westmionster on the basis of natural justice
Court of Chancery – created its own remedies and legal concepts of highly technical nature, maintaining only a distant link with fairness and reasonableness
17th c. fierce struggles for power between the Courts of Westminster and the Court of Chancery
Ended in a compromise guaranteeing both courts their proper field of competence
Division betweeen equity and common law was formed; maintained even after unification of the English justice system in the 19th c.
The amount of English legislation – comparable to that of continental countries
Statutes- considered to be incomplete until the moment when they are “covered” by numerous precedents specifying the interpretation of their main provisions
Divisions of law and legal concepts- different from civil law
Common law – equity division – unknown in continental countries
Many institutions, e.g. trust, foreign to civil-law Europe
Consists of an exceptionally large amount of detail
Explanation: originally developed by judges Unlike the legislator, the courts have to
draw very fine distinctions since they have to decide highly varied individual cases
Rules of law induced from cases – remarkably concrete
These rules – cannot be raised to a level of abstraction as rules formulated by legal science
Since case law is composed of a network of rules, laws have to be written in the same way, i.e. highly detailed to ensure compatibility of the two types of rules
Verbal magic Acts of transfer required complicated and
precise language rituals; a single mistake could nullify the act
Use of rhythmic expressions Alliteration – common in maxims and binary
expressions
Some Latin words Royal legislation and spread of Christianity Examples: convict, admit, mediate,
legitimate
The Norman Conquest brought to England a French-speaking upper class
Latin – dominant in law Normans – used Latin in important contexts 11-12 c. Latin was the language of legal
documents in England
In this period – common law was created Many essential common law terms were
originally formulated in Latin (e.g. breve ‘writ’)
Meaning diverged from that of classical Latin
Often, Norman French or even English words were Latinised (e.g. morder > murdrum) ‘dog Latin’
1st law promulgated in French in 1275 End of 13th c. both Latin and French used
as legislative languages Early 14th c. French used in drafting laws
(except in Church matters) Late 13th c. the Royal Courts used French
during sessions; case reports – prepared in French
French became the legal language in England from the late 13th c., both for legislation and the law courts
The use of French in English legal circles – a strange phenomenon because in 13th c. French had already begun to disappear in England as a language of communication; yet the rise of French as language of the law only started at that time
Reasons: A section of the English aristocracy – still
French-speaking at the end of 13th c. French as the language of culture Centralisation of justice system
consolidated the status of French Secularisation of the justice system – clerics
no longer operated as judges
With its general disappearance from England, French had become the mark of the true elites
Legal profession – monopoly of the elites French – guarantee that the people could
not meddle in the justice system because they were unable to follow the trial
Law French – even then a dead language: its expressions had a clear legal meaning; appropriate for use as legal terms
1362 Statute of Pleading – drafted in French! – prescribed that judges were to use English but that court minutes could still be prepared in Latin
According to Sir Edward Coke, it was better that the unlearned were not able to read legal materials because they would get it all wrong and harm themselves!
End of 14th c. parliamentarians were using spoken English
Still in 17th c. possible to hear law French in the Inns of Court, and, occasionally, in the courts; a number of legal works – still written in law French
French and Latin finally abolished in 1731
Latin – declined in 16th and 17th c.; remained an important legal language: court records, writs and other legal documents written in Latin until 18th c.
1000 1200 1500 2000
Latin supremacy Law French supremacy English
supremacy
English – a global language Varies according to different situations;
sometimes: stiff and conservative, sometimes innovative and creative
Difference between the spoken language of court sessions and written legal language
Legal English – a language of interaction between Old English (Anglo-Saxon, with Scandinavian elements), Medieval Latin, Old French
Latin and French expressions - part of the most basic vocabulary of English law; foundations of English legal thinking
Calques – translations from Latin and French (originally, common law was comune ley)
shortened expressions Nisi prius (‘unless before’) = a matter of
proceedings at first instance with a jury present
Affidavit (‘he affirmed’) = ‘a written or printed declaration confirmed by an oath’
Habeas corpus (‘you may have the body’) = a judge’s order to bring a prisoner before the court to clarify the legality of detaining him
Influence on word formation: Old French past participle: -e or –ee (for the
person obtaining sth or forming the object of an action
Doer of the action: -or/-er Employer/employee, trustor/trustee,
vendor/vendee
Word order Accounts payable, attorney general, court
martial, fee simple, letters patent
Binary expressions: words with the same meaning existed at the same time in the form of Latin-French variants and Anglo-Saxon variants .
Repetitions ensured that legal messages were understandable in a multilingual society
Acknowledge and confess, act and deed, devise and bequeath, fit and proper, goods and chattels, will and testament
triple repetition:null and void and of no effect, authorized, empowered and entitled to
To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
Case law – fundamental If the parties omit sth from the contract,
they cannot rely on the courts to insert it later on their behalf by way of interpretation
Terms of a contract – always interpreted narrowly: parol evidence rule: if the meaning of a written contract is clear, then no other evidence is allowed as to its content; the contract should contain all that is needed
The language of a contract governed by common law should be general enough to cover every situation, yet precise enough to ensure that the legal position of the parties is unambiguous
The contract should show with certainty what it includes and what it does not (Ibid: 237)
Some 1,200-1,500 million people in command of English; 670 million native speakers
English – official language in 75 states or administrative territories
85% international organisations use English as one of their languages
Dominance in international trade
The influence of English law – terminated with the independence
Nevertheless, the approach to the legal order, fundamental principles and concepts of law, essential legal terminology - the same in England and the US
Fundamental ideas in line with the English tradition
1) supremacy of the law (rule of law) 2) rule of precedent 3) adversarial procedure
Separation between private and public law less important than in civil law countries
Separation of powers federalism
Corporation – company Visiting rights – right of access
Traditional expressions: hereafter, herein, hereof, herewith
complexity
Common law took root alongside the traditional systems of law: Hindu law and Muslim law – application limited to traditional branches of law (family law, inheritance)
19th c. a large number of laws came into force; prepared by the British, often in London
The highest judicial organ: the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (London)
English – language of higher education and colonial administration
1837 English became the official language in India
From 1844 only those educated in English could be appointed civil servants
Republic of India – English remains the language of higher education and science; Hindi – National Official Language
English – language of government and the higher justice system
Pakistan – Urdu Bangladesh – Bangla (formerly: Bengali) Legal terminology and style in India and
Pakistan – essentially British English sometimes operates as a linguistic
tool even of Islamic law; differences: terms expressing original concepts of Islamic law
“In Pakistan, the language of Islamic law is in fact legislative English” (N. Ahmad)
Lawyers in non-English speaking countries daily drawing up contracts in English; often contain language similar to traditional common law contracts – serious problems
Cultural collision Civil law lawyers may copy common law
contracts without fully understanding them
Where litigation has to be heard by a State’s court, the interpretation may cause considerable surprise to one of the parties
A British or North American court tends to interpret the terms of a contract drawn up in English in line with traditional common law thinking
The terms may acquire a meaning completely different from that imagined by the party from a continental country
Efforts to develop terminology that is not too closely linked to the legal orders of particular States
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