Understanding Legal Language
The comprehensibility of legislative texts significantly affects the functioning of society and public administration, both directly and through other official texts derived from legal acts. However, legislative language is often perceived as ambiguous, unclear and otherwise difficult to understand.
Unclear legal language weakens the legal protection of citizens. It also increases the workload of courts and other authorities and thus raises the cost of public administration. Expressions and terms used in legislative texts are often transferred directly to other administrative texts such as decisions and instructions, which might be intended for reading primarily by laypersons.
The work to improve the comprehensibility of Finnish and Swedish legal language is essential for society as a whole. To support and enhance this work, research is needed on how legal texts are understood by readers of varying legal knowledge, and on what characteristics of legal language affect reading comprehensibility.
Aims and methods
The aim of the project is to obtain scientific knowledge on the understanding of Finnish and Swedish legislative texts in Finland that can be applied in the development of legislative language. The research uses qualitative and quantitative methods to obtain empirical information on how readers understand legislative texts in Finnish and Swedish, and which features of legislative language hinder and promote the comprehension of regulations.
In particular, the study will answer the question of differences in understanding legal texts between professional law practitioners and laypersons. The study also provides information on whether the Finnish and Swedish versions of legislation are understood differently, whether differences exist in the understanding of regulations between regulatory sectors, and what textual features might cause such differences. In addition, it will be studied how reading the regulation-specific justifications of the Government proposal (Fi. Hallituksen esitys) affects the understanding of the legislative text itself.
The research results will help to develop legal texts that are even more comprehensible for both laypersons and legal practitioners, and to build a model for assessing the comprehensibility of legal acts. The goal of the social impact of the project is to improve the opportunities for citizens and professional law enforcement officers to understand legal texts and thus increase the legal protection of citizens and make legal authorities more efficient.
Information about the project
The project is commissioned and funded by the Government of Finland. It is part of the Government-coordinated joint analysis, assessment and research activities (VN TEAS) which generate information to support decision-making, working practices and knowledge-based management. The project started in March 2023 and will end in April 2024. Project funding totalled €150,000.
The main implementer of the project is the Institute for the Languages of Finland. Its principal investigator (PI) is Salli Kankaanpää, Department Head of the Language Planning Department. Its researchers are PhD Maria Fremer, PhD Lieselott Nordman (University of Helsinki), PhD Joanna Rydzewska-Siemiątkowska (University of Warsaw) and PhD Riitta Suominen.
Project keywords: understanding legal language, empirical research, interview research, survey research, usability, user orientation, legal language, Swedish language, Finnish language, research, accessibility, research activities, understanding
- Contact: Department Head Salli Kankaanpää, Language Planning Department, Institute for the Languages of Finland, tel. +358 295 333 240, firstname.lastname(at)kotus.fi.
- Contact person at the Ministry of Justice: Susanna Siitonen (from 1.12.2023) Senior Ministerial Adviser, Legislative Affairs, Ministry of Justice, tel. +358 295 150 083, firstname.lastname(at)gov.fi