Chapter 27
Communicating Law
Introduction
Writing Law
Reading Law
Introduction
Communication is about sending and receiving a message. Communication in
law is largely about communicating information, so that is our focus here.
Communication entails one person creating and sending a message, and
another person receiving and understanding the message. Communication can
be done by several means but the fundamental skills for working with law
concern communication by the written word.
Communication is a chain or a process that involves a writer, a text and a
reader. The writer creates the text and the reader reads it. Thus the core of
communication is the text. This means that the pertinent skills for the writer
involve creating the text while for the reader they involve understanding the
text.
Perceived complexity in law
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has generated a long held view that law is
difficult both to read
716
and to write.
717
Consonant with this, there is a view
that it is difficult to instruct others in how to do these tasks,
718
although there
certainly have been attempts to explain how lawyers can write more clearly.
719
In their efforts to understand the tasks of reading and writing law, scholars
have examined the tasks from several different perspectives. Some involve
hard logic focusing on the rational components, or the delivery of information.
Examples of this approach are the perspectives of argumentation,
720
mathematics,
721
logic,
722
automatic analysis
723
and rationality.
724
Other
approaches have looked at the more creative or sensational aspects. These
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Wilson (1974)
716
Lyons (1977), Davies (1987)
717
Murumba (1991), Stark (1984), Rodell (1936-37)
718
Nafziger (1980-82), Sossin (1995)
719
Willis (1978), Berry (1987)
720
Luhmann (1995)
721
Casen (1986), Lehman (1984)
722
Allen (1957), Allen (1962)
723
Marhno (1986)
724
Rubin (1991)
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