The Supreme Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai (SLC) held an informative workshop entitled “Nature of the Language of Law", aimed at enriching legal culture and enhancing the legislative knowledge of legal professionals working for the Government of Dubai. The workshop, which is conducted virtually via videoconference, was delivered by Dr. Faisal Hassan AlOmari, Senior Legal Advisor at the SLC.
This workshop is part of the SLC's annual knowledge and educational initiatives, reflecting its commitment to enhancing the legal and legislative knowledge of government entities' employees in Dubai. The workshop focused on the theory and practice of the language of law, distinguishing it from other specialised linguistic registers, such as those of jurisprudence, judiciary, and advocacy, as well as academics, science, politics, economics, administration, and business. Additionally, the workshop also shed light on all aspects of the concept of the language of law, including its history, its definition, and its characteristics, emphasising its significance for legal practitioners.
Commenting on the workshop, H.E. Ahmad bin Meshar Al Muhairi, SLC Secretary General, said: “Enriching legal culture, raising legislative awareness, as well as fostering intergovernmental cooperation and coordination are all crucial in establishing the groundwork for more flexible and agile legislation. By holding this workshop, we aim to highlight the unique nature of the language of law, which is specialised in its terminology, definitive in its structure, and contextual in its wording. The language used in legal texts should embody the ideas and objectives of lawmakers, this is why precision is a fundamental pillar in drafting legal instruments, laws, and regulatory frameworks to ensure that the provisions are clear, precise, easily interpreted, and free of ambiguity."
Dr. Faisal Hassan Al Omari explained that the legal register, or “the language of law", is both unique and specialised, and has been developed to serve the discipline and practice of law. It is the tool employed by legislators to draft legislation and used by judges to interpret legal provisions and render judgements. Dr. Al Omari elaborated that language of law is multifaceted and encompasses various specialised registers appropriate for legislation, judiciary, administration, customs, and contracts, treaties, and conventions. Dr. Al Omari underlined the value of mastering the language of law as the vessel for properly expressing legal issues, portraying incidents and facts, and communicating ideas. Dr. Al Omari added that mastering the language of law is paramount to acquiring material wealth, describing it as an ideal long-term investment that is bound to pay off if properly given due attention by educational institutions.
Dr. Al Omari stated: “The language of the law in Arabic is characterised by extreme accuracy, clarity, conciseness, directness, the use of mandatory linguistic tools,, precision, short and conditional sentences, present tense, active voice, and masculine reference for both genders; and is socially balanced. Due to the complexity of the topics covered in legal texts and the intricacy of legal jurisprudence, it is a significant challenge to make legal language readily comprehensible. When discussing the language of law, we cannot overlook the crucial role played by translation in transferring legal knowledge between two legal systems. This requires that the legal translator be well versed in both languages in order to ensure that the meaning intended by the terms used in the source text is reflected in the target text within the legal context."
The informative workshop 'Nature of the Language of Law' is part of the SLC's annual agenda for external and joint activities and events which attract participation from various government entities and are aimed at enhancing legal knowledge and exploring potential collaboration opportunities to develop the legislative system in the Emirate of Dubai.