The Language of Law

WP4 main objectives are to: 1) Gain a comprehensive overview on the topic of the language of law; 2) Assess the current state of art on the topic, paying special attention to the developments (or lack of) from Serbia and Western Balkans; 3) Give both basic and advanced knowledge on classic and contemporary linguistics (including pragmatics); 4) Give both basic and advanced knowledge on topics related to language applied to law, such as theories of legal interpretation, argumentative models of interpretation, linguistic determinants of legal interpretation, linguistic aspects of legislative activity, theories of meaning as applied to legal interpretation, the relevance of phenomena of linguistic indeterminacy in law; and 5) Set the basis for further and innovative autonomous research on the topic of the language of law and connected fields of study.

Target/stakeholders: I) Belgrade Affiliated Staff (Scholars); II) Non-Belgrade Affiliated Scholars; III) Scientific communities (legal theorists, linguists); IV) Jurists in a wide sense; V) General Public.

T.4.1. Preliminary needs assessment: For detailed task description see T.3.1. modified by the WP emphasis on the language of law: classic and contemporary linguistics (including pragmatics), theories of legal interpretation, argumentative models of interpretation, etc.

T.4.2. Research activities: creation of a reading and research group: For detailed task description see T.3.2.

T.4.3. Research activities: literature review: For detailed task description see T.3.3. modified according to WP topic to survey the classical and current state-of-art literature on 1) law and language in general; 2) classic and contemporary linguistics; 3) theories of legal interpretation; 4) theories and models of (legal) argumentation, and 5) connected topics to these ones.

T.4.4. Research activities: expert visits and student seminars: For detailed task description see T.3.4. with exchanges being between UniGe and BGL.

T.4.5. Research activities: collaborate research and publications: For detailed task description see T.3.5. with collaborate research between UniGe and BGL.

T.4.6. Periodical meetings: For detailed task description see T.3.6.

T.4.7. Research visits in Genoa and Belgrade: At least two periods for visiting researchers shall be dedicated to improving intensively personal knowledge and skills about the language of law. The target of these research visits will be selected among both early-career and senior researchers from the University of Belgrade (visits in Genoa), depending on their specific interests and curriculum, and among researchers from the University of Genoa (visits in Belgrade). The length and occasion of each research visit will be decided in a case-by-case basis, ranging from one to three months, taking into consideration the specific profile and interests of the researcher and the activities that will be held in Genoa and Belgrade, respectively. At least one of these research visits in Genoa should coincide with the International Conference of this WP4 (T.4.9), and one of them should overlap with some the first part of Genoa’s Master Global Rule of Law & Constitutional Democracy’s residential courses (January-February).

T.4.8. Blog posts and short video lessons: The working group will produce both blog posts and short video lessons on different topics about the language of law and derivate questions and approaches. These blog posts and short video lessons will be uploaded to ALF-WP for dissemination purposes. For more details, see T.3.8.

T.4.9. International Conference: The Language of Law: This International Conference will address researchers, scholars, and students (both affiliated to Belgrade or not) but will be also open to jurists in a wide sense and the public. The conference will take place in Genoa in Year 2 or 3 (depending on the advancement of the research of WP4) and will make sure Belgrade scholars are represented between the main speakers. To guarantee the maximum dissemination possible, the conference will also be streaming through ALF-WP and ALF-OSN.