The document discusses legal language and its use by lawyers and in the legal system. It notes that spoken language is essential to legal processes like police interrogations and conversations between lawyers and clients. Researchers have studied legal language as a linguistic phenomenon to understand how it differs from ordinary English. One of the earliest scholarly works on the subject was The Language of the Law by David Mellinkoff in 1963, which analyzed legal language's tendency towards wordiness, redundancy, specialized vocabulary, and complex sentence structures.

2.  „‟Legal language is the type of language used by lawyers
and other legal professionals in the course of their work’’
 First of all, Spoken language is just as
indispensable to the legal process. The legal
implications of language continue to extend far
beyond the courtroom – to interactions between
police and suspects, to conversations between
lawyers and their clients, etc. A little reflection is
enough to notice how essential language is to the
legal enterprise.

3.  To know how this „special dialect‟ came about
and how it differs from „ordinary English‟,
researchers have turned to the language of the
law as a linguistic phenomenon in its own
right.
 In fact, one of the first scholarly publications
about law and language was David
Mellinkoff‟s monumental work, The Language
of the Law, published in 1963

4. Controlling Law
Statutory Law New Columbia Code § 22-2401. Murder in the first degree - Purposeful killing;
Whoever, being of sound memory and discretion, kills another purposely, either of deliberate and
premeditated malice or by means of poison...is guilty of murder in the first degree.
New Columbia Code § 22-2403. Murder in the second degree.
(a) Whoever with malice aforethought, except as provided in Sec. 22-2401, kills another, is guilty of
murder in the second degree.
(b) In the District of Columbia, second degree murder is a lesser included offense of first degree murder,
and under an indictment charging first degree murder, the defendant may be found guilty of the
necessarily included offense of second degree murder.
Punishment New Columbia Code § 22-2404. Penalty for murder in first and second degrees.
(a) A person convicted of murder in the first degree shall be sentenced to a minimum of 30 years from the
date of the commencement of the sentence.
(b) Whoever is guilty of murder in the second degree shall be sentenced to a period of incarceration of not
more than life, except that the court may impose a prison sentence in excess of 40 years only in
accordance with § 24-203.1(b-2).
_____________________ Developed by Georgetown University Law Center, D.C. Street Law Clinic page 5
New Columbia Code § 22-2405. Penalty for manslaughter. Whoever is guilty of manslaughter shall be
sentenced to a period of imprisonment not exceeding 30 years.

5.  We can find a lot of legal terms in this example
such as Murder in the first degree. When
someone is accused of murder in first degree
it means that he or she kills another purposely,
either of deliberate and premeditated malice or
by means of poison.

6.  If we look closely we can see that there‟s a
special code when you refer to a specific law.
You must use a key symbol, similar to a G key
on music. For example, New Columbia Code §
22-2401.
 New Columbia Code § 22-2403. Murder in the
second degree.
 (a) Whoever with malice aforethought, except
as provided in Sec. 22-2401, kills another, is
guilty of murder in the second degree.

7.  Manslaughter: Theunlawfulkillingofone
human by
anotherwithoutexpressorimpliedintentto do
injury.
 Legislature: An officially elected or otherwise
selected body of people vested with the
responsibility and power to make laws for a
political unit, such as a state or nation.
 ProsecutionAttorney: A
lawyerempoweredtoprosecute cases onbehalfof
a governmentanditspeople.
Alsocalled prosecution, prosecutor.

8. Comparece:
Don RODRIGO SANCHEZ MONTENEGRO, Rut: Nº 13.465.194-6, Soltero, ingeniero civil,
domiciliado en …….., mayor de edad, acredita su identidad con la cédula personal antes
citada, que exhibe, declara pertenecerle y expone:
PRIMERO: Don RODRIGO SANCHEZ MONTENEGRO, ya individualizado, es dueño de un
inmueble ubicado en calle Los Nogales número cuatrocientos veinte, Comuna de San
Esteban, Provincia de Los Andes, que corresponde al LOTE SEIS, del conjunto
Habitacional “Parque Residencial Jardín de Los Olivos”, individualizado en el plano
protocolizado bajo el Nº 615 al final del Registro de Propiedad del año 2009 en el
Conservador de Bienes Raíces de Los Andes, de una superficie aproximada de
trescientos treinta coma cero nueve metros cuadrados, y deslinda: al NORTE, con calle
Los Olivos en veintiocho coma cero un metros; al SUR, con Lote Cinco en veinte coma
cuarenta y cinco metros, y en siete coma cincuenta metros con calle Los Nogales; al
ORIENTE, con Lote Siete, en diez coma ochenta y nueve metros; y al PONIENTE, con
Avenida Alessandri en doce coma setenta y tres metros.- Lo adquirió por compra a la
sociedad Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Puerta del Sol Limitada, según escritura pública de
23 de octubre del 2009, otorgada ante la Notario Público de Los Andes, Marta Rivas
Schulz, repertorio número 2352. El dominio a nombre de don RODRIGO SANCHEZ
MONTENEGRO se encuentra inscrito a fojas 1608 vuelta número 2372 en el Registro de
Propiedad del año 2009 en el Conservador de Bienes Raíces antes indicado. Rol de
Avalúo del inmueble es el 17-165 de la Comuna de San Esteban.

9.  Comparecer:
wichmeansSubmittedtoanauthorityorotherpers
on.
 Rol de Avalúo: Number by whichthe SII
identifies a propertyor real estate,
whichisuniquetoeachmunicipality.
 Notario Público:
isanattorneywhoseinvolvement in various legal
actshave legal
securityassuranceforallthosepartiesinvolved

10.  Indictment: A written statement charging a
party with the commission of a crime or other
offense, drawn up by a prosecuting attorney
and found and presented by a grand jury.
 Stuatory Law: Is written law set down by a
legislature or legislator.
 Incarceration: A person who is deprived of
liberty and is sent to jail.

11.  Sentenced: A court judgment, especially a
judicial decision of the punishment to be
inflicted on one adjudged guilty
 Deslindes: Bookmarkanddistinguishthetermsof
a stateorpossession.
 Fojas: Sheetofpaper,
especiallyofanofficialdocument.

12.  The Language of the Law, published in 1963,
nearly two decades before linguists would turn
to legal language. Written by David
Mellinkoff‟s.
 It is full of 6 wordiness, redundancy, and
specialized vocabulary and it often contains
lengthy, complex, and unusual sentence
structure.

13.  This example is an extract of a mock trail titled:”
United Statesvs Dominique Stephens”.
a) Controlling laws, which are the laws of the state
which will be relied upon in interpreting or
judging disputes involving a contract, trust or
other documents.
b) Legal language is very short and clear. They don‟t
use connectives too much, they prefer to use
bullet points when they have to specify
something.
c) When someone is accused of murder in first
degree it means that he or she kills another
purposely, either of deliberate and premeditated
malice or by means of poison.

14.  Similarity between code and language between
the extracts. The extract corresponds to a deed,
which is a legal document that is signed and
delivered, especially one regarding the
ownership of property or legal rights.

15. Thanks