GRAMMATICAL ISSUES IN JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION – DOES LEGAL PRACTICE NEEDS LINGUISTIC THEORY? BASED ON POLISH COURTS’ DECISIONS
PDF

Keywords

statutory interpretation
cognitive linguistics
grammar
syntax

How to Cite

ZEIFERT, M. (2019). GRAMMATICAL ISSUES IN JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION – DOES LEGAL PRACTICE NEEDS LINGUISTIC THEORY? BASED ON POLISH COURTS’ DECISIONS. Comparative Legilinguistics, 34, 33–51. https://doi.org/10.14746/cl.2018.34.2

Abstract

Most interpretational problems in law pertain to the meaning of words. However, in this paper I address problems caused in Polish courts by grammar (namely: syntax and inflexion) of legal provisions. One can distinguish five main sources of grammatical issues in judicial interpretation of law: syntax of a sentence (i.e. order of words), conjunctive words (i.e. i, lub), punctuation marks (i.e. comma, semicolon, dash), nominal grammatical categories (i.e. number, gender), verbal grammatical categories (i. e. aspect, tense, mood). Traditional Polish canons of interpretation offer no clues on how to deal with such issues, stating only that statutes should be construed in accordance with the rules of grammar. In fact, cases in which such interpretational issues occur, are decided in a highly incoherent manner. The courts tend to feel a tension between grammatical form of a provision and its purpose, function, or other extra-linguistic values. I think the main reason of such controversy is a very limited vision of grammar shared by the courts, stemmed from primary school rather than contemporary linguistic theories.

https://doi.org/10.14746/cl.2018.34.2
PDF

References

Adams, Kenneth A. and Alan S. Kaye. 2007. Revisiting The Ambiguity of “And” and “Or” in Legal Drafting. St. John’s Law Review vol. 80: 1167–98.

Berger, Linda L. 2004. What is the Sound of a Corporation Speaking? How the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor Can Help Lawyers Shape the Law.

Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors 2004/2, vol. 169: 169–208.

Chomsky, Noam. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Polish edition: Zagadnienia teorii składni. 1982. Transl. I. Jakubczak. Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk–Łódź: Ossolineum).

Dyer, Charles R. 2007. The Queen of Chula Vista: Stories of Self-Represented Litigans and a Call for Using Cognitive Lingusitics to Work with Them. Law Library Journal 99: 717–56.

Endicott, Timothy. 2001. Vagueness in law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Farrell, Robert C. 2008. Why Grammar Matters: Conjugating Verbs in Modern Legal Opinions. Loyola University Chicago School of Law Law Review, vol. 40: 1–44.

Guastini, Riccardo. 2006. A Sceptical View on Legal Interpretation. In Analisi e diritto 2005. Ricerche di giurisprudenza analitica, ed. by Paolo Comanducci and Riccardo Gaustini, 139–144. Torino: Giappichelli.

Hart, Herbert L.A. 1961. The Concept of Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Polish edition: Pojęcie prawa. 1998. Transl. J. Woleński. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo PWN.

Jellum, Linda D. 2008. Mastering Statutory Interpretation. Durham: Carolina Academic Press.

Jodłowski S. 2002. Zasady Interpunkcji. Podręcznik. Wydanie nowe, zmienione i rozszerzone, ed. Jan Gostyń. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Tomasz Strutyński.

Johnson, Mark. 2002. Brooklyn Law Review 67, no. 4: 949¬–62.

Johnson, Mark. 2007. Mind, Metaphor, Law. Mercer Law Review 58/3: 845–68.

Kirk, M. B. 1970-1971. Legal Drafting: The Ambiguity Of "And" and "Or", Texas Tech Law Review, vol 2: 235–53.

Lakoff, George. 1989. Cognitive Science and the Law. Toronto: University of Toronto.

Langacker, Ronald W. 2008. Cognitive Grammar: a Basic Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press (Polish edition: Gramatyka kognitywna. Wprowadzenie. 2009. Transl. E. Tabakowska, M. Buchta, H. Kardela, W. Kubiński, P. Łozowski i in. Kraków: Universitas).

Llewellyn, Karl N. 1950. Remarks on the Theory of Appellate Decision and the Rules or Canons about How Statutes Are to Be Construed. Vanderbilt Law Review, vol. 3: 395–406.

MacCormick, Neil i Robert S. Summers. 1991. Interpreting Statutes. A Comparative Study, ed. Neil MacCormick, Robert S. Summers. Routledge: Dartmouth–Worcester.

Malinowski, Andrzej. 2006. Polski język prawny. Wybrane zagadnienia. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo LexisNexis.

Malinowski, Andrzej. 2008. Redagowanie tekstu prawnego. Wybrane wskazania logiczno-językowe. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo LexisNexis.

Manzanares Javier V. 2014. Cognitive Linguistics and the Law. Anuari de Filologia. Estudis de Linguistica 4: 185–200.

Marcin, Raymond B. 1977. Punctuation and the Interpretation of Statutes, Connecticut Law Review, vol. 9: 227–45.

Opałek, Kazimierz and Jerzy Wróblewski. 1991. Prawo: Metodologia, filozofia, teoria prawa. Warszawa: Pastwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.

Osenga, Kristen. 2011. A Penguin’s Defence of the Doctrine of Equivalents: Applying Cognitive Linguistics to Patent Law. New York University Journal of Law & Liberty 6: 313–58.

Rabault, Hugues. 1997. Les limites de l’interpretation juridictionelle (Polish edition: Granice wykładni sędziowskiej, Warszawa 1997. Tłum. B. Janicka. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar).

Scalia, Antonin and Bryan A. Garner. 2012. Reading Law: the interpretation of legal texts. St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West.

Schane Sanford A. 2006. Language and the Law. London–New York: Continuum.

Scott, J. 2010. Codified Canons and the Common Law of Interpretation, Georgetown Law Journal, vol. 98: 341–431.

Solan, Lawrence (ed.) 2001. Symposium: Cognitive Legal Studies: Categorization and Imagination in the Mind of Law. A Conference in Celebration of the Publication of Steven L. Winter’s Book, A Clearing in the Forest: Law, Life, and Mind, Brooklyn Law Review vol. 67, no. 4.

Solan, Lawrence M. 2010. The Language of Statutes. Laws and Their Interpretation. Chicago–London: The University of Chicago Press.

Solan, Lawrence. 2001. Why Laws Work Pretty Well, but not Great: Words and Rules in Legal Interpretation. Review of Words and Rules: the Ingredients of Language by Steven Pinker. Law and Social Inquiry 26: 243–71.

Taylor, John. 2002. Cognitive Grammar (Oxford Textbook in Linguistics). Oxford–New York: Oxford University Press (Polish edition: Gramatyka kognitywna. 2007. Transl. M. Buchta, Ł. Wiraszka. Kraków: Universitas).

Tobor, Zygmunt. 2013. W poszukiwaniu intencji prawodawcy. Warszawa: Wolters Kluwer Polska.

Turner, Mark and Mathew McCubbins. 2013. Concepts of Law. Southern California Law Review 86/3: 517–72.

Winter, Steven. 2001. A Clearing In the Forest: Law, Life, and Mind. Chicago–London: The University of Chicago Press.

Wróblewski, Jerzy. 1990. Rozumienie prawa i jego wykładnia. Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk–Łódź: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.