Law and Language, the latest volume in the Current Legal Issues series, contains a broad range of essays by scholars interested in the interactions between law and language. This volume examines the themes of truth in language and the law, and the role of language in different areas of law, including contract and criminal law.

1. Introduction: Law and Language ; 2. Legal Texts and Canons of Construction: A View from Current Pragmatic Theory ; 3. Linguistic Meaning and Legal Truth ; 4. Truth in Law ; 5. Language, Truth, and Law ; 6. Claims of Legal Authorities and 'Expressions of Intention': The Limits of Philosophy of Language ; 7. Legal Pluralism: A Systems Theory Approach to Language, Translation, and Communication ; 8. Frame Semantics and the 'Internal Point of View' ; 9. Hart as Contextualist? Theories of Interpretation in Language and the Law ; 10. On Goodness and Genre: Talking about Virtue in Law and Literature ; 11. The Grin's Cat: Language, Law, and Literature ; 12. Reading and Writing the Law: Macaulay in India ; 13. 'Where be his quiddities now?' Law and Language in Hamlet ; 14. Stories in Law: Providing Space for 'Oppositionists'? ; 15. Literal Interpretation and English Precedent in Joe Ma's Lawyer, Lawyer ; 16. Toward a Cognitive Science of Legal Interpretation ; 17. Do You Kick a Dog When It's Down? Considering the Use of Children's Video-taped Testimonies in Court ; 18. The Power of Naming: Surnames, Children, and Spouses ; 19. The Role of Language in Legal Contexts: A Forensic Cross-linguistic Viewpoint ; 20. Vagueness and Power-Delegation in Law: A Reply to Sorensen ; 21. Plato's Fertility Clinic: Status and Identity Rhetoric in Parenthood Disputes ; 22. Silence, Speech, and the Paradox of the Right to Remain Silent in American Police Interrogation ; 23. The Consumption of Legal Language: Consuming the Law ; 24. (Language + Law)2 = ? ; 25. MMORPGing, Law, and Lingo ; 26. Construing Commercial Contracts: No Need for Violence ; 27. Why Are Non-US Contracts Written in US Legalese? Some Preliminary Thoughts, and a Research Agenda ; 28. The Role of Parliamentary Rhetoric in Facilitating the Racial Effect of the Section 44 Terrorism Act 2000 Stop and Search Powers ; 29. Precedent at the Court of Justice of the European Union: the Linguistic Aspect ; 30. Law and Language(s) at the Heart of the European Project: Educating Different Kinds of Lawyers ; 31. Foreign Law in Translation: If Truth Be Told... ; 32. First-person Perspectives in Legal Decisions ; 33. Deaf People at the Old Bailey from the 18th Century Onwards ; 34. Rule of the Root: Proto-Indo-European Domination of Legal Language ; 35. Necessary Violence?: Inscribing the Subject of Law

Offers a broad overview of the interaction between law and language and the way they infuence each other The latest volume in the established Current Legal Issues series, which brings together scholars from around the world to explore the interactions between legal thought and other disciplines Topics include libel, linguistic meaning and truth in language and law, semantics, the power of naming, and role of language in constructing commercial contracts

Offers a broad overview of the interaction between law and language and the way they infuence each other The latest volume in the established Current Legal Issues series, which brings together scholars from around the world to explore the interactions between legal thought and other disciplines Topics include libel, linguistic meaning and truth in language and law, semantics, the power of naming, and role of language in constructing commercial contracts