Vague legal concepts
-
Ingrid Simonnaes
Abstract
Translated by Benjamin D. Tyrybon
“Ernst: Wovon ich einen Begriff habe, das kann ich auch mit Worten ausdrücken.
Falk: Nicht immer; und oft wenigstens nicht so, daß andre durch die Worte vollkommen eben denselben Begriff bekommen, den ich dabei habe.” (Lessing 1948: 65)
Against the background of modern terminology theory (e.g. Picht 1993), I examine the concept of vagueness as it relates to legal concepts. It is often assumed in lay circles that, generally, legal concepts are or must be clear (and unambiguous). Legal experts (e.g. Heck 1932, Zingel 2001) claim on the contrary that many legal concepts are vague and only shed this inherent property after interpretation. I present some empirical evidence in support of the view that many legal concepts are inherently vague.
Abstract
Translated by Benjamin D. Tyrybon
“Ernst: Wovon ich einen Begriff habe, das kann ich auch mit Worten ausdrücken.
Falk: Nicht immer; und oft wenigstens nicht so, daß andre durch die Worte vollkommen eben denselben Begriff bekommen, den ich dabei habe.” (Lessing 1948: 65)
Against the background of modern terminology theory (e.g. Picht 1993), I examine the concept of vagueness as it relates to legal concepts. It is often assumed in lay circles that, generally, legal concepts are or must be clear (and unambiguous). Legal experts (e.g. Heck 1932, Zingel 2001) claim on the contrary that many legal concepts are vague and only shed this inherent property after interpretation. I present some empirical evidence in support of the view that many legal concepts are inherently vague.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword xi
- Introduction – LSP studies xiii
-
Indeterminacy
- Indeterminacy, context, economy and well-formedness in specialist communication 3
- Lexical chains in technical translation 15
- Eliminating indeterminacy 37
- Indeterminacy of terms and icons in software localization 49
-
Indeterminacy
- Epistemological aspects of indeterminacy in postmodernist science 61
- No fixed boundaries 73
- Commensurability of scientific theories and indeterminacy of terminological concepts 93
- Concept formation and indeterminacy in the LSP of Economics 107
- Vague legal concepts 119
- Präzision versus Vagheit 135
-
Indeterminacy
- Coping with indeterminacy 157
- Ontologies and indeterminacy 181
- Terminological modelling of processes 199
-
Heribert Picht
- Heribert Picht 217
- Contributors 231
- Index 235
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword xi
- Introduction – LSP studies xiii
-
Indeterminacy
- Indeterminacy, context, economy and well-formedness in specialist communication 3
- Lexical chains in technical translation 15
- Eliminating indeterminacy 37
- Indeterminacy of terms and icons in software localization 49
-
Indeterminacy
- Epistemological aspects of indeterminacy in postmodernist science 61
- No fixed boundaries 73
- Commensurability of scientific theories and indeterminacy of terminological concepts 93
- Concept formation and indeterminacy in the LSP of Economics 107
- Vague legal concepts 119
- Präzision versus Vagheit 135
-
Indeterminacy
- Coping with indeterminacy 157
- Ontologies and indeterminacy 181
- Terminological modelling of processes 199
-
Heribert Picht
- Heribert Picht 217
- Contributors 231
- Index 235
