Statutory Interpretation: How Legal Reasoning and Linguistics Interact

Abstract

The relationship between law and language has been widely discussed as early as in 1963 when Mellinkoff published the well-known book ‘The Language of the Law’ in the US. The linguistic analysis presented in this paper is an attempt to study legal interpretation from an interdisciplinary perspective. In particular, it is intended to demonstrate actual disputes (mostly US cases) that require interpreting statutes as how legal reasoning and linguistics interact. Starting with a brief account of linguistic indeterminacy and different forms of indeterminacy in legal contexts, the author will then focus on various approaches provided by legal scholars and linguists when it comes to uncertainty in construing law. Finally, a Polish case study will be presented to exemplify how linguistic analysis, along with legal argumentation, can practically contribute to the effectiveness of legal drafting and interpretation.