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What is law? According to Hans Kelsen, “law is an order of human behaviour” and it can also be taken as “a system of rules” . But while human behaviour and rules have various potentials, they are also subjected to certain flaws. This brings us to interpret law as a system that possesses both aptitudes and limitations. In dealing with this concept of law the question of language becomes relevant. For instance, how far does the relationship between language and law has an influence on the limits and potentials of law? If we are to examine this question in depth, we need to define in the first place, this relationship between law and language. Studies have suggested that the language itself is the vehicle through which law is in fact transmitted, interpreted, and executed in all cultures . Thus since language is the way through which most cultures communicate, law cannot exist in society without it. In this essay, we will be discussing about the legal language in relation to the potentials and limitations of law. First we will be underlining the potentials of law by discussing on the power of the legal language. Then we will refute this point by stressing on the negative effect of this power and bring about the question of the limitations of law. The last part of the essay will deal with other limitations of legal language. We will specifically be analysing essential questions of law definition and interpretation and talking about the complexity of legal language. ... Hence as language works together with law to create meanings and represent world views, it becomes a device powerful enough to “pronounce what something is or is not and how a situation is to be understood” . ... One way to understand this would be to study the way the law has a particular influence on people’s thoughts and feelings. ... Though she was the “victim of a criminal assault by four white men”, the law’s statement that nothing happened, shaped the understanding that it did not happen. The law, with a total lack of concern with theories and facts, merely shaped the event in terms of whether or not she was raped on a particular day . In this case, the law is seen to act as a “reductionist language-one that does not easily embrace complexity and nuance” . Though this ability to create meaning through differentiation contributes to the power of law, it also limits its proper understanding of a situation.
Approximate Word count = 2007
Approximate Pages = 8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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