2. Definition
0 ‘’Legal language is the type of language used by lawyers
and other legal professionals in the course of their
work’’.
0 First of all, Spoken language is just as indispensable to
the legal process. The legal implications of language
continue to extend far beyond the courtroom – to
interactions between police and suspects, to
conversations between lawyers and their clients, etc.
A little reflection is enough to notice how essential
language is to the legal enterprise.

3. 0 To know how this ‘special dialect’ came about and
how it differs from ‘ordinary English’, researchers
have turned to the language of the law as a linguistic
phenomenon in its own right.
0 In fact, one of the first scholarly publications about
law and language was David Mellinkoff’s monumental
work, The Language of the Law, published in 1963.

4. Example
Controlling Law
Statutory Law New Columbia Code § 22-2401. Murder in the first degree - Purposeful killing;
Whoever, being of sound memory and discretion, kills another purposely, either of deliberate and
premeditated malice or by means of poison...is guilty of murder in the first degree.
New Columbia Code § 22-2403. Murder in the second degree.
(a) Whoever with malice aforethought, except as provided in Sec. 22-2401, kills another, is guilty of
murder in the second degree.
(b) In the District of Columbia, second degree murder is a lesser included offense of first degree
murder, and under an indictment charging first degree murder, the defendant may be found guilty of
the necessarily included offense of second degree murder.
Punishment New Columbia Code § 22-2404. Penalty for murder in first and second degrees.
(a) A person convicted of murder in the first degree shall be sentenced to a minimum of 30 years from
the date of the commencement of the sentence.
(b) Whoever is guilty of murder in the second degree shall be sentenced to a period of incarceration of
not more than life, except that the court may impose a prison sentence in excess of 40 years only in
accordance with § 24-203.1(b-2).
_____________________ Developed by Georgetown University Law Center, D.C. Street Law Clinic page 5
New Columbia Code § 22-2405. Penalty for manslaughter. Whoever is guilty of manslaughter shall
be sentenced to a period of imprisonment not exceeding 30 years.

5. 0 We can find a lot of legal terms in this example such as
Murder in the first degree. When someone is accused of
murder in first degree it means that he or she kills
another purposely, either of deliberate and premeditated
malice or by means of poison.
0 If we look closely we can see that there’s a special code
when you refer to a specific law. You must use a key symbol,
similar to a G key on music. For example, New Columbia
Code § 22-2401.
0 New Columbia Code § 22-2403. Murder in the second
degree.
0 (a) Whoever with malice aforethought, except as provided
in Sec. 22-2401, kills another, is guilty of murder in the
second degree.

6. Technical Words
0 Manslaughter: The unlawful killing of one human by
another without express or implied intent to do injury.
0 Legislature: An officially elected or otherwise selected
body of people vested with the responsibility and
power to make laws for a political unit, such as a state
or nation.
0 Prosecution Attorney: A lawyer empowered to
prosecute cases on behalf of a government and its
people. Also called prosecution, prosecutor.

7. Example L1
Comparece:
Don RODRIGO SANCHEZ MONTENEGRO, Rut: Nº 13.465.194-6, Soltero, ingeniero
civil, domiciliado en …….., mayor de edad, acredita su identidad con la cédula
personal antes citada, que exhibe, declara pertenecerle y expone:
PRIMERO: Don RODRIGO SANCHEZ MONTENEGRO, ya individualizado, es dueño
de un inmueble ubicado en calle Los Nogales número cuatrocientos veinte,
Comuna de San Esteban, Provincia de Los Andes, que corresponde al LOTE
SEIS, del conjunto Habitacional “Parque Residencial Jardín de Los Olivos”,
individualizado en el plano protocolizado bajo el Nº 615 al final del Registro de
Propiedad del año 2009 en el Conservador de Bienes Raíces de Los Andes, de
una superficie aproximada de trescientos treinta coma cero nueve metros
cuadrados, y deslinda: al NORTE, con calle Los Olivos en veintiocho coma cero
un metros; al SUR, con Lote Cinco en veinte coma cuarenta y cinco metros, y en
siete coma cincuenta metros con calle Los Nogales; al ORIENTE, con Lote Siete,
en diez coma ochenta y nueve metros; y al PONIENTE, con Avenida Alessandri
en doce coma setenta y tres metros.- Lo adquirió por compra a la sociedad
Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Puerta del Sol Limitada, según escritura pública de
23 de octubre del 2009, otorgada ante la Notario Público de Los Andes, Marta
Rivas Schulz, repertorio número 2352. El dominio a nombre de don RODRIGO
SANCHEZ MONTENEGRO se encuentra inscrito a fojas 1608 vuelta número
2372 en el Registro de Propiedad del año 2009 en el Conservador de Bienes
Raíces antes indicado. Rol de Avalúo del inmueble es el 17-165 de la Comuna
de San Esteban.

8. Technical Words
0 Comparecer: wich means Submitted to an authority or
other person.
0 Rol de Avalúo: Number by which the SII identifies a
property or real estate, which is unique to each
municipality .
0 Notario Público: is an attorney whose involvement in
various legal acts have legal security assurance for all
those parties involved.

9. Common words used in Legal Language
0 Indictment: A written statement charging a party with the
commission of a crime or other offense, drawn up by a
prosecuting attorney and found and presented by a grand
jury.
0 Stuatory Law: Is written law set down by a legislature or
legislator.
0 Incarceration: A person who is deprived of liberty and is
sent to jail.
0 Sentenced: A court judgment, especially a judicial decision
of the punishment to be inflicted on one adjudged guilty
0 Deslindes: Bookmark and distinguish the terms of a state
or possession.
0 Fojas: Sheet of paper, especially of an official document.

10. General Summary
0 The Language of the Law, published in 1963, nearly
two decades before linguists would turn to legal
language. Written by David Mellinkoff’s.
0 It is full of 6 wordiness, redundancy, and specialized
vocabulary and it often contains lengthy, complex, and
unusual sentence structure.

11. Extract 1 summary
0 This example is an extract of a mock trail titled:” United
States vs Dominique Stephens”.
a) Controlling laws, which are the laws of the state which
will be relied upon in interpreting or judging disputes
involving a contract, trust or other documents.
b) Legal language is very short and clear. They don’t use
connectives too much, they prefer to use bullet points
when they have to specify something.
c) When someone is accused of murder in first degree it
means that he or she kills another purposely, either of
deliberate and premeditated malice or by means of
poison.

12. Extract L1 summary
0 Similarity between code and language between the
extracts. The extract corresponds to a deed, which is a
legal document that is signed and delivered, especially
one regarding the ownership of property or legal
rights.

13. Thanks for
reading and
listening!