PROBLEMS WITH THE USE OF ORAL LANGUAGE IN THE COURTHOUSE. A FEW PROPOSALS FOR IMPROVEMENT

The aim of this paper is to reflect on the use that professionals make of legal language in the courthouse, with a view towards offering some proposals for improvement. Towards that end, the first two sections consider some proposals to optimize legal language that were implemented in Spain and other European countries. In this sense, it is worth pointing out that most of the initiatives have neglected the oral aspect of language, focusing fundamentally on written language. This being the case, basing its findings on the corpus of texts analyzed, this study describes some frequent problems that interfere with a clear and efficient use of oral language in legal discourse; the various examples are accompanied by proposals for improvement that are explained in the corresponding section. A novel aspect of the present study is the specific attention it pays to the vocal, sound-producing component of oral discourse in the courtroom, in accordance with the contributions included for the area of oral language in the Report of Recommendations from the Commission for the Modernization of Legal Language (Ministry of Justice, 2011). Finally, we propose some ideas that aim to help render this discourse more comprehensible, thereby facilitating the professional exercise of law and the relationship between justice and the citizenry.