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Legalese in templates


Kurt_Hamster
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The more I think about it the more I'm concerned about the increasing usage of legalese in the available templates.

 

Given that we are supposed to be litigants in person, i.e. civilians and not legal experts or solicitors, then why are all the claims going in to the courts in what is essentially legal jargon rather than plain English.

 

Is there not a chance this can backfire?

 

It's well known that judges cut us some slack purely for the fact that we are civilians, and aren't trained in the use of legal documents so why then are we trying to act like we are?

 

For most of us it's going to be "we can talk the talk, but we can't walk the walk". Couldn't this be a dangerous thing?

 

For example, Joe Bloggs has faithfully filled out his N1 PoC using the CAG template, complete with its "pursuants" and it's "tangled-string logic" of not leaving a gap for the defendant to step into. Then comes the AQ with the suggested attached directions also in a legalese dialect of English.

 

But once Joe gets to court, whether its at a pre-trial review, or a directions hearing or even the main hearing itself, all of a sudden he is speaking in plain, everyday, straight-forward English. Doesn't this jar the mindset of your average judge?

 

Don't get me wrong, I know the templates are worded in such a way so the judge can read them, understand them, and make things harder for the defence to get a foothold, but I'm concerned they will, errr, erode our image of being civilians and lead the judge to expect more legal knowledge than we actually have.

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its a good thought.

 

I have been to a few cases with DCAs and i found the judges to be very understanding, normal people keen to make sure i understood everything and taking time to explain.

 

Only 1 was bad but then, you get some.

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