bq. The Language and Law Conference will be held from May 17 to 19, 2006 in Duesseldorf, Germany. It is an interdisciplinary joint-venture of the University of Duesseldorf and the University of California, Los Angeles.
The full programme should be online at the beginning of next (this) week, I gather, and payment should be made by April 30. It’s possible to register for individual panel discussions on the second and third days.
bq. Applied Sessions (Wednesday)
Forum plus topical full paper sessions (25 mins plus discussion time) on language issues in law.
* European Union legislation and national translations from English: Linguistic causes and Legal issues
* Intercultural aspects, different law systems, different cultures, different language problems
* Teaching Legal English in Law Firms and Training Institutions
* Interpreting English-language contracts/judgments for German lawyers & vice versa
* Issues in bilingual legal practice (translation/interpretation)
* U.S. & German legal language and communication (avoiding misunderstandings, pitfalls, & false friends, Intercultural communication – appropriate tone with colleagues, courts & clients, tone and politeness in email communication)
* Forum “Corporate Law and Language”, organized by Dirk Zetzsche (zetzsche@uni-duesseldorf.de) of The Center for Business & Corporate Law, University of Duesseldorf
bq. Specialized Panels (Thursday and Friday)
Three papers presented. Two discussants, afterwards questions from the audience. Panelists and discussants have read all the papers beforehand. Papers are accessible in the materials section (registration required).
* Interpretation of Legal Language
* Language in Law and Literature
* Language and Crime
* Intercultural aspects of law: different cultures, different legal systems, different problems for language
* Language(s) and the law: translating legal discourse – the European and American situation
* Legal Language, plain language and access to the law
* Language, gender and law
I don’t recognise the names of any of the speakers. Does anyone?
I’m waiting for the full programme. For instance, I was told that the papers will be accompanied by two ‘discussants’, both of whom have already read the paper in advance (as the audience will be able to). This was in connection with a talk on translating into plain English, which would interest me. That isn’t the only translation-relevant topic.
The problem would be if the conference is attended mainly by academics with not much practical experience of translation. Otherwise, the audience adds a lot of value to such a conference.
The names I recognize are Kniffka, Tiersma and Solan. Peter Tiersma has written quite a well-known book on legal language. I gather it’s now available in paperback. He has just published one on language and crime, which I expect will be his topic. Legal Language