Our articles are written by experts in their field and include barristers, solicitors, judges, mediators, academics and professionals from a range of related disciplines. Family Law provides a platform for debate for all the important topics, from divorce
and care proceedings to transparency and access to justice. If you would like to contribute please email
editor@familylaw.co.uk.
Researching Reform: Language and the law - simple doesn't mean stupid
© Copyright LexisNexis 2024. All rights reserved.
Whether you take the view that legal jargon is an integral part of the culture inside the justice system or offers an efficient labelling tool for the speedy processing of information law is no longer a selective world but a communal one; and everyone wants to speak the language.
Blame the internet and a growing social conscience online but simplifying language in law has been one of the defining phenomena for the UK justice system in the twenty-first century. For Family Courts at least coming into contact with parents children and extended family members who are not trained to deal in family law jargon pressure to change the way we use language has contributed to wide-scale reform. The most notable to date
Mr Justice Ryder's recommendations for modernising the family justice system included looking at the way terms and phrases were being used and seeing how we could break those down and make them easier to understand. Despite this much of the language still used in court and by lawyers and other professionals inside the justice system remains unnecessarily complex.
Litigants...
Read the full article here.
