Bilingual courtrooms: In the interests of justice?
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Richard Powell
Abstract
Bilingual courtrooms are generally associated with the use of interpreted oral testimony to support monolingual judicial proceedings. Yet several postcolonial jurisdictions accord de jure or de facto standing to more than one language in court. The most studied is Malaysia, but the literature is far from exhaustive. Further research is to be encouraged because the way different legal systems accommodate bilingualism throws light on many questions central to forensic linguistics, including language rights, language planning in legal domains, cultural disadvantage before the law, genre-based communication strategies, and transparency of legal processes. This chapter reviews current evidence of and research into bilingual courtrooms and discusses the problems and potential benefits of including data on bilingual discourse in debates about language and justice.
Abstract
Bilingual courtrooms are generally associated with the use of interpreted oral testimony to support monolingual judicial proceedings. Yet several postcolonial jurisdictions accord de jure or de facto standing to more than one language in court. The most studied is Malaysia, but the literature is far from exhaustive. Further research is to be encouraged because the way different legal systems accommodate bilingualism throws light on many questions central to forensic linguistics, including language rights, language planning in legal domains, cultural disadvantage before the law, genre-based communication strategies, and transparency of legal processes. This chapter reviews current evidence of and research into bilingual courtrooms and discusses the problems and potential benefits of including data on bilingual discourse in debates about language and justice.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. The language of the law
- The nature of legal language 7
- Language education for law professionals 27
- The language and communication of jury instruction 47
- Policespeak 67
- Legal translation 95
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Part II. The language of the court
- Questioning in common law criminal courts 115
- Bilingual courtrooms: In the interests of justice? 131
- The silent witness: Pragmatic and literal interpretations 161
- Language and disadvantage before the law 179
- Interpreting for the minority 197
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Part III. Forensic linguistic evidence
- Approaching questions in forensic authorship analysis 215
- Trademarks and other proprietary terms 231
- Deception and fraud 249
- Plagiarism 265
- Contributors 301
- Language index 307
- Subject index 309
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. The language of the law
- The nature of legal language 7
- Language education for law professionals 27
- The language and communication of jury instruction 47
- Policespeak 67
- Legal translation 95
-
Part II. The language of the court
- Questioning in common law criminal courts 115
- Bilingual courtrooms: In the interests of justice? 131
- The silent witness: Pragmatic and literal interpretations 161
- Language and disadvantage before the law 179
- Interpreting for the minority 197
-
Part III. Forensic linguistic evidence
- Approaching questions in forensic authorship analysis 215
- Trademarks and other proprietary terms 231
- Deception and fraud 249
- Plagiarism 265
- Contributors 301
- Language index 307
- Subject index 309
