Course information
Once upon a time, in a not so distant past, law was a national and often very local affair. People often continued to live in the village or city district where they were born, and there they worked, married and had children, and died as well. If they came into contact with the law at all, it was because they had to explain to the village constable—or if things really got out of hand—to the local magistrate why they had caused neighbourly noise nuisance in the middle of the night. Their slightly well-off fellow villagers would visit the notary down the road to draw up a will. Those were the days. This program was put together in response to many requests and with input from former participants.
What to expact?
Each session consists of two 45-minute blocks with a short break in between.
Session 1:
- Problems in Legal English
- Assessing terminology: case-study on laws and rule-making
Session 2:
- Persons and family law
- Marriage and divorce
Session 3:
- Property law
- Bankruptcy
Session 4:
- Inheritance law and trusts
- Wills
Session 5:
- Legal entities
- Business contracts
Session 6:
- Criminal and human rights law
- AOB: participants’ queries
Leerdoelen
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
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Reflect critically on the role of English as a legal lingua franca in international legal contexts.
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Identify the core legal, linguistic, and cultural competences required of legal-linguistic professionals.
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Recognise the communicative challenges faced by lawyers, translators and interpreters in intercultural legal settings.
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Analyse selected terminology and language issues using a comparative legal-linguistic approach.
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Translate and evaluate short English legal texts in terms of lexical, grammatical and register-related complexities.
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Formulate informed questions regarding terminology, usage and legal-cultural differences for peer discussion.