Legal language Language is the instrument of law because legal documents are created through words. Lawyers deal mainly with words which is their essential tool. When a person decides to write his will, he uses language. Contracts between two parties is nothing but words written on paper. So , language and law are interconnected. However, we must recognize that legal language is not like everyday language used by all people. Actually, legal language has been discussed and studied by many scholars. It is thought to be a unique language that has its own peculiarities. It is agreed that legal language is difficult and cannot be understood except by specialists due to different reasons.
Firstly, it is thought to be “a category of its own right, the ultimate linguistic challenge combining the inventiveness of literary translation with terminological precision of technical translation”. Legal terms are precise and must be selected cautiously paying attention not to substitute a term with a relevant one. Secondly, unlike technical and scientific languages, legal language depends on the legal system to which it belongs. Each country has its own legal system which means that there are as many legal systems as there are countries which is of course a load on legal translators. Thirdly, legal terminology are not only system dependent but are language dependent too. Countries of different languages undoubtedly differ in their legal systems. However, we must also note that even countries sharing the same language have different legal systems. Saudi Arabia, for instance, has its own legal system different than the Egyptian one although they are all written in Arabic. In addition, most legal terms refer to abstract concepts and are not defined through referential properties, but rather intentionally , using other abstract concepts.
