On May 31, the Faculty of Law at UIC Barcelona held the first Legal Language Event (“Sic Rebus Stantibus”), organised by doctors Ricardo Jiménez and María Mut from the Faculty of Law. The purpose was to contemplate the challenges of current jargon and create a space for discussion and reflection with sector experts. In this sense, professor Jiménez confirmed that “to reflect on the use of legal language it is advisable to bring together jurists and linguists, because the discussion is richer if both bring ideas from their areas”.
The event consisted of a series of conferences given by sector professionals. To begin, the specialist in Discourse Analysis, Professional Communication and Legal English, Ruth Breeze presented her conference “Plain Language? What can we learn from other experiences”. The University of Navarra lecturer noted that “in the United Kingdom, a slow but constant progression towards the use of clear English in legal documents is perceived”.
She was followed by Doctor Anna Alsina Naudi, lecturer at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Princeton University. The expert presented the advances to promote the use of clear legal language in Chile, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia during her talk “¿Qué podemos aprender de la experiencia americana?” (What can we learn from the South-American experience?).
Then the lawyer partner of Jausas-Fieldfisher, Pablo Franquet, offered a talk called “Escribir para ganar” (Writing to win), where he explained how legal language should be used, based on his experience. He was supported by University of Barcelona lecturers M.ª Ángeles García Asensio and Irene Yúfera, with their conference “Lo escribiremos claro, y punto: desaprender lo aprendido en el aula de escritura experta” (We will write clearly, period: unlearning what we have learnt in the expert writing class).
Finally, the event ended with the conference “¿Hacia la destrucción del lenguaje jurídico?” (Towards the destruction of legal language?) by Doctor Luis María Cazorla Prieto, professor at Rey Juan Carlos University, legal adviser to the Cortes Generales, lawyer and novelist. Cazorla presented his thoughts on the destruction of legal language, based on some of Walter Benjamin’s ideas.
