Lexis and Semantics in Occupation: Legalese and the Plain English Campaign Flashcards
What does the Plain English Campaign argue?
The law should make their legal documents more easy to understand
Why does the Plain English Campaign argue this?
Because they believe that in a Democracy, everyone should be able to access the law.
What is an argument against the Plain English campaign related to the purpose of Legal documents?
They are covering complex issues and this status of the documents should not be reduced
What is an argument for the Plain English campaign related to the purpose of Legal Documents?
Only those trained in law can read it which means they can charge as much as they want and this may be at the disadvantage of the person who the case is directed towards
What is an argument against the Plain English Campaign related to it being precise or not?
It is not precise enough
What is an argument for Plain English Campaign related to it being precise or not?
Many words in Legalese are archaic which means they usually no longer even should have a purpose, which means that these words could also not be precise
What is an argument against the Plain English Plain English Campaign related to its cost or the amount of time taken to do it?
It is argued it would be too expensive and time consuming to implement the Plain English documents fully
What is an argument for the Plain English campaign related to its cost or the amount of time to do it?
The United States National Conference even says that legal documents should be accessible to everyone so the time should be taken to do this.
What is partly a success for the Plain English Campaign and after what year?
After 1999, many legalese terms have been replaced with more understandable terms
Give 3 examples of terms used in legalese
Plaintiff, Pleadings, Writ
What has “Writ” been changed to in the post-1999 Plain English Campaign terms?
Changed to “Claim Form”
What has “Plaintiff” been changed to in the post-1999 Plain English Campaign terms?
Replaced with the term ‘Claimant’
What has “Pleadings” been changed to in the post-1999 Plain English Campaign terms?
Replaced with “Statement of case”
