Mediation in a legal sense is a means of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Having evolved in the USA in the last half of 20th century the procedure is growing in popularity and proliferation all over the world. Many countries enacted particular legislation, and others included relevant articles into Civil and/or Criminal Procedure Codes. Howbeit, lawyers are to be aware of mediation and roles they may play within the process. Law school curriculum drafters face the challenge of including a new up-to-date (...) course in mediation into busy and very full academic programmes. Analysis of existing instructing practice showed that in Anglo-American law schools mediation teaching is a part of clinical legal education. As for European countries, there is a broad range of scenarios and no established experience. Recognition of communicative skills as key skills for mediators prompts the use of a CLIL approach in structuring such a course. Listening, reframing, summarising, questioning are skills to be mastered by law-students both in a foreign language and their mother tongue. Language teachers are in charge of this part of the course while law teachers can work out text contents built on the branches of law mediators deal with more often (family law, employment law, contracts, etc.). Moreover, some texts may cover mediation law in a home country and abroad. Another important factor to take into account is a career path chosen by a law-student – if s/he is going to become a mediator or a lawyer securing clients in mediation. Role plays and scenarios are an integral part of the course. Moreover, the course developed can serve as an introduction to internship in a law clinic. (shrink)

Legal concepts and notions are deeply affected by religions, ethics, philosophy and the culture of a particular nation. As Friedman Comparing legal cultures, Dartmouth, Aldershot, 1997, p. 34) highlights, understanding legal culture is a crucial factor as it both affects their translation and interpretation and consequently has an impact on the application of law. This increases in importance, for example, in the context of the principle of mutual trust and recognition of judgments assumed by the European Union as the cornerstone (...) of judicial co-operation in the European Union, which would not be possible without the trust in each other’s justice system and the respect for the different legal systems and traditions of the Member States. In that vein, ‘the Third Space’, where legal concepts and notions of multiple origins meet and where their meanings are negotiated, transformed, translated and integrated into various socio-political and cultural contexts has acquired an immense significance. Although there may be natural similarities between legal professions in the European Union, they could differ quite substantially as they are deeply rooted in the history and societal evolution of a country; therefore, they are generally regulated at a national, not a European level. In light of the above, the author intends to perform an in-depth analysis of key terminology in the field of names of legal professions which exist in the Member States of the European Union. The author focuses on the terms which refer to the legal profession of lawyers as they might pose obstacles in translation and interpretation due to different functions and roles these legal professionals play in their legal systems or due to the lack of their equivalents in other legal systems. The terminology is compared to present similarities and differences in their meaning, particularly putting some emphasis on socio-political and cultural contexts. The research methods encompass the analysis of relevant literature and the terminological analysis of the research material, which includes the information on legal professions provided by particular Member States on the European e-Justice portal and relevant national regulations in that respect. Finally, the author draws the conclusion that a thorough analysis of the functions and roles of a particular legal profession in socio-political and cultural contexts is required before the translation and interpretation of the term is provided as it helps to avoid ambiguity and makes legal communication precise. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric Jahrgang: 45 Heft: 1 Seiten: 141-159.

Name der Zeitschrift: Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric Jahrgang: 45 Heft: 1 Seiten: 87-96.

Law is known to exist only being articulated in a language and discourse, and the students’ ability to comprehend and use its meta-language is one of the main goals for English for Legal Purposes (ELP) teaching. The knowledge of terminology enables students to fit new information (linguistic, disciplinary, factual, cultural, etc.) into the framework of the legal system they are studying. The acquisition of terminology in a foreign language implies knowledge of both conceptual content and the means of its verbalization. (...) This article argues for a cognitive approach to teaching Legal English, and frame modelling as an effective method of teaching and learning legal terminology. The heterogeneous structure of legal concepts (a permanent core and dynamic periphery) suggests the possibility of framing their verbal representations. From this perspective, legal terminology is viewed as a frame structure. Depending on the instructional objective, frame modelling may be circumscribed around a specific concept or frame level. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric Jahrgang: 45 Heft: 1 Seiten: 69-86.