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Transformation of Legal Texts into Simplified Accounts to Make the Justice Accessible
Abstract
This research determines the impact of plain English on legal texts by making the comparison with the original legalese for the legal discourse community of Pakistan. In this regard, the linguistic competence of law practitioners and law teachers is computed in terms of comprehension and time spent on reading original and simplified versions of extracts of judicial judgments. For this, two questionnaires were generated, comprising of five extracts of civil judicial judgments with both versions; for gathering the perceptions of lawyers and law teachers. And, then data was systematically analyzed by making relative impact of original and simplified versions of judicial texts. The findings clearly revealed that the simplified versions of judicial texts gained momentum in terms of time saving and raising intelligibility among the participants. In light of findings, Plain English Language Movement is suggested in Pakistani legal and academic settings which can revolutionize the legal system of Pakistan.
Authors
Dr. Iram Rubab
Assistant Professor, Department of English, GC Women University Sialkot, Pakistan
Mamona Yasmin Khan
Assistant Professor, Department of English, The Women University Multan, Pakistan
Dr. Tahira Asgher
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Islamia University Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Keywords
Legalese, Language and Law, Plain English Judicial Judgments, Legislation
