Linguistic Assessment of Legal Texts in the Kurdistan Parliament: From the viewpoint of critical discourse analysis

Abstract

Linguistic analysis of the legal texts of parliaments is an evaluation of language, structure and discourse of legislative documents. Such critical examination provides important insights into the regional political affiliations, power relations and social variables. Despite the structural complexity and the opaque nature of legal language to laypersons, legal texts are important for the society as they are essential tools for the organization of administrative, commercial and social activity. The current study employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to investigate the expression of certain language choices in legal documents. The legislative output from the first session of the Kurdistan Parliament in 1992 is used as a primary case study. It considers the implications of these decisions in reproducing power inequalities and simultaneously evaluates the ability of the texts to communicate legal meaning. The results highlight that linguistic clarity is not only a question of style, but also a democratic question, since unclear legal language can limit the public participation possibility. This study examines the political and social consequences of legislative discourse and points out linguistic features which can either promote or impede democratic participation. The study concludes that linguistic practices oriented towards democracy can improve transparency, build trust and promote participatory legislation within the Parliament.