1. Sources of Legal English

2. History of English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEaSxhc ns7YAD
Old English
Angles, Saxons, Jutes
Viking invasions
Anglo-Saxon
Latin
Old Norse AD
Middle English
Norman conquest
Norman French
1500-
Modern English
Colonial expansion
The rise of English as an international language

3. Outline Influences of other languages on legal English
Legislative attempts to change the language of the law into English
Plain English for Law movement

4. The Anglo-Saxon Period
Although the legal system of England was barely developed during the Anglo-Saxon period, some legal terminology emerged, and some of these terms are still used today.
From the ninth until the twelfth century, during the Viking occupation of the country, words were mainly borrowed from Scandinavian languages.
Some of examples are Old Norwegian words such as gift, loan, sale and trust.

5. “Law”
The word law derived from an Old Norse noun log, which meant “something laid or fixed”.

6. The Anglo-Saxon Period
Verbal magic
Precise language rituals
Rhytmic expression
Alliteration (still present in binary expressions)
Inversion (to strengthen the impact)

7. Legal Latin
With the spread of Christianity, oral legal communication was replaced by the use of drafting. As in the rest of Europe, only the elites were literate, so most of official documents were written down by the clergy. This, among other things, meant that they were written in Latin and that they were influenced by canon (ecclesiastical) law.

8. Rise of Law Latin
In the 11th and 12th century, Latin was the language of legal document in England
In this period common law system was created, and consequently many common law terms were originally formed in Latin.
As an example, here is a list of some Latin words and phrases that are still most common in legal English: ab initio, affidavit, amicus curiae, bona fide, ex parte, habeas corpus, in personam, mens rea, obiter dicta, stare decisis, subpoena, sui generis…
These examples only show how extensive the list could be; it has been estimated that at least some 3,000 Latin maxims are currently used in legal English.

9. The Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest in 1066 was one of the most important events in English history that also proved to be one of the most important events in the development of the English language in general, and particularly the language of the law.
After the Conquest, the new king William brought to England numerous noble families from Normandy. Linguistic situation in the country became complex, as common folk spoke English, the newcomers spoke French, and the written language was, as in the rest of Europe, primarily Latin.

10. Law French
Although it is frequently claimed that the Norman Conquest caused French to become the language of the law in England, the first law was actually promulgated in French in
Soon after that French became the language of the legislature and judiciary.
This situation continued for almost three centuries.

11. Law French
Many words and phrases that were used during that time survived until the present day, such as numerous verbs connected with the judicial procedure: sue, plead, accuse, indict, arraign, depose, blame, arrest, seize, pledge, warrant, assail, assign, judge, condemn, convict, award, distrain, imprison, banish, acquit, pardon, as well as many criminal offences: felony, trespass, assault, arson, larceny, fraud, libel, slander, perjury and adultery.

12. A significant number of terms connected with the government and administration also stem from this period and are of French origin: government, govern, administer, administration, crown, empire, reign, royal, authority, sovereign, majesty, court, council, parliament, assembly, statute, treaty, alliance, repeal, tax and so on.

13. Legislative attempts to change the language of the law
French as the dominant language of the law caused huge problems for common English people who had any contact with the law. An uneducated person who had a case before the court could not understand what was being said, since all court proceedings were conducted in French.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom tried to regulate the language of the law on three occasions. The first attempt was the famous Statute of Pleading from 1362.

14. The Statute of Pleading (1362)
The Statute of Pleading demanded that all court proceedings should be conducted in English, and official documents should be recorded in Latin (because French was largely unknown in the country)
It was written in French.
However, lawyers continued to use French in the court as the language of the elite, so even though statutes were passed in English, Freench remained the dominant language of the courts until the 17th century.

15. The second attempt (1650)
The second attempt dates from the Puritan period, when in 1650 Cromwell's Parliament adopted the law (An Act for turning the Books of the Law, and all Proces and Proceedings in Courts of Justice, into English) that requested that all report-books of the resolutions of judges and other books of the law in England had to be written in English: „The Parliament have thought fit to Declare and Enact ...That all the Report-Books of the Resolutions of Judges, and other Books of the Law of England, shall be Translated into the English Tongue: And that from and after the First day of January, 1650, all Report-Books of the Resolutions of Judges, and all other Books of the Law of England, which shall be Printed, shall be in the English Tongue onely.”

16. Members of the legal profession were largely against this law, and consequently in 1660, after the Restoration, it was repealed and everything continued as before.
With time, however, English became dominant in various types of legal documents, such as wills.

17. Rise of Legal English
Wills began to be written in English in the 15th century
Statutes were written in Latin until about 1300, in French until 1485, in English and French for a few years and in English alone from 1489

18. The Court of Justice Act (1731)
Finally, in 1731 Parliament passed The Courts of Justice Act which required that all court proceedings and statutes had to be only in English, and not in Latin or French:
“be it enacted...that all proceedings whatsoever in any courts of justice within that part of Great Britain called England, and in the court of exchequer in Scotland, and which concern the law and administration of justice, shall be in the English tongue and language only, and not in Latin or French, or any other tongue or language whatsoever...”

19. The end of trilingualiasm
This law marks the end of trilingualism of the English legal profession marked by using Latin for written pleadings and legal records, English for hearing witnesses, and French for oral pleadings.

20. In conclusion
It is important to understand how legal English evolved and how other languages influenced (and continue to influence) its development.
A better insight into historical development enables a better understanding of some of the features of modern legal English and a better understanding of the way in which it is changing today.

21. Thank you for your attention!