Obscurity and Clarity in the Law Prospects and Challenges

'What happens when plain language advocates meet experts in law, semiotics, and linguistics? Read this book to find out! Using examples from Chinese, English, Finnish, French, Swedish, and other languages, and representing both civil and common-law jurisdictions, the authors of the essays in this book explain why clarity is in theory so important to the rule of law, but also why in practice it can be so elusive.' Peter Tiersma, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles , USA and author of Legal Language 'This carefully edited book fuses linguistic and legal concepts and combines theoretical and practical perspectives. The contributors explore developments in Europe, North America and Australia and introduce less studied legal cultures such as Africa and China; as well as global settings such as international arbitration. Obscurity and Clarity in the Law is recommended to all readers interested in the problems of legal language, irrespective of their professional background. Heikki E. S. Mattila, University of Lapland, Finland and author of Comparative Legal Linguistics '...I would certainly recommend this volume to legal linguists because, as a whole, it is well-balanced and carefully thought out, with an interesting selection of papers.' International Journal for the Semiotics of Law