International Journal of Law And Criminology
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VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue08 2025
PAGE NO.
28-32
10.37547/ijlc/Volume05Issue08-06
The Importance of Being A Linguist in International Law
Abdukarimov Komron Abdumalikovich
Uzbekistan State World Languages University, Faculty of English Philology, 3rd-year student, Uzbekistan
Hasanova Laylo Abduahat kizi
Uzbekistan State World Languages University, Faculty of English Philology, 2nd-year student, Uzbekistan
Received:
15 June 2025;
Accepted:
11 July 2025;
Published:
13 August 2025
Abstract:
This paper explores the vital function of linguists in the realm of international law, emphasizing how
their knowledge of language structure, translation principles, and intercultural communication enhances and
often exceeds the linguistic skills of lawyers. While attorneys are educated to interpret and apply the law, they
can encounter challenges with the intricate linguistic aspects of legal English, such as outdated terms and
contextual subtleties. Linguists, particularly those who are also lawyers, play a crucial role in drafting, translating,
and interpreting multilingual legal documents with accuracy and clarity, ensuring legal equivalence among
languages. The study also presents research that compares the skills of linguistic and legal students in areas like
terminology, analysis of legal texts, search strategies, and communication, demonstrating that both professions
possess distinct strengths. The results support the need for greater interdisciplinary collaboration between law
and linguistics to improve the precision, efficiency, and fairness of international legal proceedings.
Keywords:
International law, linguist, lawyer-linguist, legal English, translation, multilingual legal documents, legal
drafting, intercultural communication, terminology, interdisciplinary collaboration.
Introduction:
International law is crucial for every
individual, not only for them, but also for countries. It
interacts heavily with official documents, including
treaties, conventions, and diplomatic correspondence,
where linguists can be better at than lawyers. Although
lawyers are taught to deal with legal documents, they
may lack the deep comprehension of language
structure and translation theory required for precise
interpretation across multiple languages.
Linguists, however, improve their ability to analyze
syntax, syntax, and cultural context, which makes them
indispensable in drafting, translating and interpreting
international legal texts. This article explores how
linguists, especially those with legal practice, play a
critical role in ensuring clarity, regularity, and justice in
international legal communication. It argues for wider
recognition of their role and the necessity for
interdisciplinary practice in both law and linguistics.
Legal English and its struggles
Legal English differs from the general English that
native speakers use. Legal English is a form of English
used in the field of law in England, America and other
countries whose official language is English (Veretina-
Chiriac, 2012). Because it has various unusual features
related to terminology, which are linguistic features
and punctuation. Legal English is the style of English
used by lawyers and other legal professionals in the
course of their work (Supardi, 2013). Legal English
includes some updated words that can lead to
misunderstanding. The use of archaisms: Archaic terms
refer to the use of old expressions by lawyers called
legalese, such as under (under; by); before (before);
after (after), etc., which makes it hard for laypersons to
understand (Veretina-Chiriac, 2012). Plain English is
when linguists replace legal English with appropriate
words. Although legal practitioners have tended to
simplify legal English by replacing them with more
understandable forms, that is “Plain English”
movement (Mellinkoff, 2004), a variety of archaic
words, e.g., hereinafter, aforesaid, therein, thereto,
thereof, can still be found in English legal documents
under the common law legal system. People who want
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International Journal of Law And Criminology (ISSN: 2771-2214)
to be linguists spend more time understanding the
context of the written communication, which includes
books, articles, and even old documents. Even if they
have reading skills, which is useful for understanding
international legal texts. Reading comprehension is,
however, not an easy task at all. (Broek, 2012)states
that: “reading comprehension is a complex interaction
among automatic and strategic cognitive processes
that enables the reader to create a mental
representation of the text”. Lawyers are only trained to
find suitable information for their cases; on the other
hand, they sometimes face rare cases that make the
information challenging to understand when the
lawyer tries to find a solution. Butler (2015) indicated
that legal writing was the most complicated skill among
the four skills for both teachers and learners. It is partly
explained because most teachers of legal English are
language teachers, not legal experts. Therefore, they
lack experience in writing and drafting legal
correspondence and legal documents. According to
Marzano (Marza
no, 2004), “what students already
know about the content is one of the strongest
indicators of how well they will learn new information
related to the content”. Similarly, (Gurthrie, 2000), who
considers comprehension impossible without prior
knowledge, st
ates definitely “all learning involves
transfer from previous experience. Even initial learning
involves transfer that is based on previous experience
and prior knowledge” (p. 26) and “background
knowledge, often called prior knowledge, is a collection
of
“abstracted residue” (p. 33).
The crucial role of lawyer-linguists as a solution for
legal language issues in globalization
Lawyer-linguists come to the new world, where there is
more demand for them as professionals engage with
multilingual legal texts such as treaties, conventions,
and international agreements, where precision and
clarity are crucial. "Lawyer-linguists ... are a relatively
new type of profession[al] who came into existence
following the creation of the EEC, EC, and EU, and they
typically work for the European institutions ...
responsible for making legislation in a multiplicity of
languages." The goal of these professionals, trained in
both language and the law, is essentially to close the
gap between lawyers and linguist-translators that can
create problems with the quality and equivalency of
texts by revising texts in their mother tongue and
comparing the resulting text with a base text model.
This method ensures greater accuracy and ensures a
more faithfully equivalent translation. (Hargitt) (442p,
INDIANA JOURNAL OF GLOBAL LEGAL STUDIES 20:1).
In recent times, people have noticed lawyers’ weak
point, which is understanding of legal English. As a
result of this problem, it causes lawyers to spend more
time than necessary. This leads to clients having to wait
more and pay even though this is not their problem. All
of them caused the creation of a new occupation:
lawyer-linguists. Lawyer-linguists often engage in co-
draughting. Co-draughting, or "codecision" within the
context of the European Union, is a process that helps
to assure that the maximum level of equivalency is
achieved in legislative draughting.' (See Co-Decision or
the "Ordinary Legislative Procedure," supra note 120.)
Similarities and differences between the lawyers and
linguistics in international law
In the field of international law, both lawyers and
linguists play crucial yet distinct roles that ensure the
accurate interpretation and application of legal norms
among various legal and linguistic systems. Both
professionals engage with multilingual legal tasks such
as treaties, conventions, and international agreements,
where precision and clarity are essential. Although
lawyers are trained to interpret and apply the law, they
do not have enough skills to represent clients or states
before international courts, and ensure legal
compliance with international frameworks. Linguists
specialize
in
the
analysis,
translation,
and
interpretation of legal language in multiple languages.
In that way, the co-operation between lawyers and
linguists strengthens the productivity and justice of
international legal communication.
Similarities between Lawyers and Linguists in
International Law
Aspects
Description
1.
Work with Multilingual Legal
Texts
There are some languages in the international law
both lawyer and linguist use it in order to work with
legal documents or reading comprehension.
2.
Precision in Language Use
In this field, wording is important to be accurate in
case of avoiding diplomatic and legal
misunderstandings.
3.
Cross-cultural Communication
Both deal with culturally diverse legal systems and
must understand how legal meanings shift between
language and contexts.
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International Journal of Law And Criminology (ISSN: 2771-2214)
4.
Contribute to Legal
Interpretation
Lawyers explain the law legally; linguists help with
accurate interpretation by analyzing the structure and
semantics of the language used.
5.
Collaborative Roles
While lawyers give legal expertise, linguists ensure
linguistic and cultural clarity in multilingual legal
texts.
Differences between Lawyers and Linguists in
International Law
Although there are some differences between lawyers
and linguists’ main subjects, linguists can adopt,
understand, or communicate in court or international
law places better than lawyers can learn linguistically
complex texts.
Criteria
Lawyers
Linguists
1
Primary Role
Apply, interpret, and argue
international low forms in
courts and companies.
Critical thinking,
analyzing, translate
or interpret the
language of legal
content.
2
Training Background
High law schools
specialized in international
law, treaties, human rights,
interaction law
Linguistics special
grammars or
translation studies,
often with legal
specialize.
3
Legal Authority
Can represent clients or
states in international courts
(e.g., ICJ, ICC)
May not provide
legal representation,
but ensure accuracy
and cultural
sensibility of context.
4
Responsibility in Legal Drafting Draft legal documents with
legal effect and obligation.
Help with clarity and
prevent ambiguity in
different language
versions of a draft.
5
Focus Area
Legal arguments, justice,
compliance with
international conversations.
Language structure,
translation quality,
terminology
alignment, cultural
nuance.
Research between linguists and lawyers
To our research held in World languages university, we
selected 10 volunteers from linguistic university and 10
from law university. We had experience over them into
4
categories
including
communication
skills,
terminology, working with legal texts, searching skills.
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International Journal of Law And Criminology (ISSN: 2771-2214)
Linguist
Lawyer
S
Terminology
Working with legal texts
Searching skills
Communication skills
These charts compare lawyers and linguists in terms of
four different skills.
According to our research, Linguists are better at
working with terms which are most important in legal
English, compared to lawyers 41% and 16%
respectively. However, in searching sources, lawyers
have a significant result with 47% while in this category,
linguists were noticeably lower, 9%. Moreover,
although working with legal texts appeals more to
lawyers, result shows us slightly opposite former being
35%, latter 22%. Unlike other skills, communication is
the same with 15%.
Thus, we witnessed that both university students’
schedules
include
all
subjects
related
to
communication, searching skills and working with legal
context, terminology as well. Nevertheless, lawyers are
good at all of them, linguists who spend more years to
learn languages and new words make them easily
adapt to all situations.
CONCLUSION
In a globalized environment where international law
increasingly relies on multilingual communication, the
partnership between lawyers and linguists has become
essential. While attorneys hold the legal knowledge
needed to interpret and execute the law, linguists
contribute advanced abilities in language analysis,
translation, and cultural adaptation, which are vital for
achieving clarity and equivalence in legal texts. The rise
of lawyer-linguists fills gaps present in both fields,
facilitating more precise and effective legal
communication across languages. Research comparing
linguistic and law students demonstrates that each
group excels in specific skills, reinforcing the necessity
for
integrated
education
and
collaboration.
Acknowledging the importance of linguists in the
sphere of international law will ultimately enhance the
quality of legal processes and foster fairness in global
legal interactions
REFERENCE
Broek, V. d. (2012). Individual differences in reading
comprehension: A theoretical and empirical overview.
Learning and Individual Differences. 315.
Gurthrie. (2000). Contexts for engagement and
motivation in reading.
Hargitt, S. (n.d.). INDIANA JOURNAL OF GLOBAL LEGAL
STUDIES . 442.
Marzano. (2004). Building background knowledge for
academic achievement: Research on what works in
schools. 1.
Mellinkoff. (2004). The language of the law. Waveland
Press.
International Journal of Law And Criminology
32
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International Journal of Law And Criminology (ISSN: 2771-2214)
Supardi. (2013). Legal English for law students. Rajawali
Pers.
Veretina-Chiriac. (2012). Legal English: Linguistic
features and challenges. Journal of Language and Law.
