Legal English

ldroi1282  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Legal English
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
3 credits
30.0 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Wijffels Alain;
Language
English
Main themes
Part 1: elementary legal English: a general survey of the vocabulary in different areas of the law, and an introduction to key notions of the common law tradition. Part 2: advanced legal English: an introduction to cases in the common law tradition.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1 The course should help students to acquire a general 'passive' knowledge enabling them to understand an English legal text; it should also contribute towards the development of a command of 'active' English and the ability to express oneself in writing when discussing legal materials or questions. More specifically, the course will help to develop: - command of a basic English legal vocabulary, in all traditional areas of the law; - the technique of translating an English legal text into French, including the skill to render in French translation terms and phrases which have no precise equivalent in the legal system of the translation's addressee; - a first introduction to the use of professional tools for translating English legal texts, in particular legal dictionaries.
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
Contents (see also 'main themes', above): Part 1: elementary legal English (general outlines for various areas of the law); Part 2: advanced legal English (case studies). Teaching Methods: Part 1: reading, translating, explaining the difficulties and the technique to avoid or resolve any pitfalls specific to legal English; Part 2: analysing cases according to a set structure (facts, proceedings, outcome, legal issues, arguments submitted on either side). The active participation of the students in this part of the course is encouraged. Assessment and examination methods: these are explained in the information published on the electronic notice board (including a full specimen of an examination). A standard examination includes: (a) translating legal terms from English into French; (b) explaining English legal terms in French (with the help of an English legal dictionary); (c) translating sentences from an English legal text into French; (d) analysing questions relating to a case (the text of which is made available at the examination).
Bibliography
A. Krois-Lindner, International Legal English (2nd edn., Cambridge, 2011).
B. Dhuicq et D. Frison, L'anglais juridique (nouvelle éd., Paris, 2012).
Oxford Dictionary of Law(Oxford : se rapporter à la dernière édition format poche disponible)
J. Bleyte et al., Dictionnaire économique et juridique (Français/Anglais ' English/French) (5ème éd., Paris, 2000).
Faculty or entity
BUDR


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Bachelor in Law

Minor in Law (openness)