The Principle of Orality in County and Family Courts

Grieshofer, Tatiana (2025) The Principle of Orality in County and Family Courts. In: Language and Justice: Communication in Legal Practice. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781009540988 (In Press)

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Abstract

The principle of orality is a key feature of adversarial legal systems. It safeguards the right of the parties to present their case in court and for court hearings to be heard in public, underpinning thus transparency and procedural justice. The implementation of the principle of orality in legal proceedings has, however, been challenged in legal research and practice.
The chapter draws on linguistic frameworks to explore the principle of orality from the theoretical perspective and question its implementation in county and family courts across England and Wales. Focusing on these high-volume proceedings, the analysis expands on the conceptualisation of the principle of orality, presents a novel methodological approach to exploring orality in legal practice, and identifies court procedures that support and those that impede on the effective implementation of the principle of orality. To address issues with reduced orality and its patchy implementation, the chapter argues for the need to uphold the quality assurance of the investigative and evidentiary process, support court users through guided elicitation, and provide scope for procedural flexibility.

Item Type:	Book Section
Dates:	Date Event 6 May 2025 Accepted
Subjects:	CAH19 - language and area studies > CAH19-01 - English studies > CAH19-01-02 - English language
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > College of English and Media
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	09 Jul 2025 12:35
Last Modified:	09 Jul 2025 12:35
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16506

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