STANDARDIZATION OF PLAIN LANGUAGE

Aglaia S. Ortile

University of the Cordilleras

College of Law

JD 1E

Judge Jennifer Humiding

07 October 2023
 Abstract

The first section of your paper is your introduction. Use these paragraphs to provide background and context. “Intr

Introduction

Writing in legal documents frequently follows a formal, prescriptive style that ignores the

audience. Because these documents have an impact on ordinary people on a daily basis, they should be

created with a clear audience in mind and effective communication techniques. When ordinary people

comprehend the scope of their rights and obligations, they are considerably more prone to react and

engage in more active participation in issues that concern them. People in the general public regularly

complain that the informational publications are difficult for them to read. They frequently come across

traditional legal writing in documents like mortgages, leases, jury instructions, government regulations,

statutes, consumer contracts, and agreements confusing and incomprehensible.

For instance, ordinary people might not understand what phrases like "domicile," "abutting," or

"mitigating" mean or might find it challenging to read lengthy sentences with several subordinate

clauses. There is a need to make legal documents understandable for laypeople that are not familiar

with the law and the obligations the law places on them.

Legal writing is self-replicating. The court decides matters by interpreting judicial decisions and

statutes that have been written according to conventional legal writing. They continue the cycle by

expressing their decisions and ideas in the same manner of writing. The judge's ruling becomes judicial

precedent and is cited by attorneys on opposing sides that each claim the decision is in their client's

favor.

If the matter goes to trial by the court, ordinary people on the jury must decide the case by

comparing the facts gathered from the evidence provided to them throughout the trial to the law

provided in the jury instructions. Jurors are frequently presented with complex jury instructions that

they must make an effort to comprehend in order to make an informed decision. Instructions frequently

cite an extensive state statute verbatim, complete with run-on sentences and several subordinate
clauses. In a criminal trial, how jurors perceive a jury instruction can affect someone's life and determine

whether the accused person lives or dies. Because of instances like this one, there is a great need to

improve ordinary people comprehension of legal papers aimed at ordinary people.

In this study, simple language will be defined, its history will be discussed, its goals will be

stated, and the characteristics of the language of law and traditional legal writing will be described. The

difficulties in standardizing plain language across many legal systems, jurisdictions, and languages while

maintaining legal accuracy will be discussed.

Heading Two

If needed, you can include consecutive paragraphs with their own headings, where appropriate. For APA Style for

Heading Three

When citing any quote or text that consists of three or more lines, APA guidelines call for block-quote format:

Create a new paragraph to begin the block-quote. Double-space each line of text, as you have done with headings

Last Name (Year) citations can be used when writing a paper in narrative form. Parenthetical citations are also appropria

Heading Four:

When using headings, don’t skip levels. If you need a heading 3, 4, or 5 with no text following it b

Heading Five.
Like all sections of your paper, references start on their own page, like the page that follows this o
 References

Last Name, A. B. (Year). Article Title. Journal Title, Pages #-#. URL.

Last Name, C. D. (Year). Book Title (Edition). Publisher Name. URL.

Last Name, D. E., Last Name, F. G., Last Name, H. I. (Year). Report Title (report number). Publisher. URL.

Last Name, J. K. (Year, Month Day). Article Title/Headline. Periodical. URL.

Organization Name. (Year, Month Day). Webpage Title. URL.

For additional information on APA Style formatting, please consult the APA Style Manual, 7th Edition.