Zur (Un-)Verständlichkeit der Rechtssprache am Beispiel der deutschen Rechtssprache

Abstract

Abstract This paper investigates whether the criticisms of legal texts’ incomprehensibility are valid and justifiable. It therefore starts with determining the features of legal languages that are potentially responsible for jeopardizing the comprehensibility of legal texts. Next, it discusses the purposes (functions) these features serve in legal communication. By indicating a number of similarities between the legal and the everyday communication, the paper attempts to refute the criticisms of incomprehensibility in legal texts.