Kolarkova Oxana Gennadievna, Savina Anna Anatolievna philological

MODAL VERBS IN LEGAL ... sciences

УДК 811.111
МОДАЛЬНЫЕ ГЛАГОЛЫ В ЮРИДИЧЕСКОМ АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ
© 2018
Коларькова Оксана Геннадьевна, кандидат педагогических наук, доцент кафедры
языкознания и иностранных языков
Савина Анна Анатольевна, кандидат педагогических наук, старший преподаватель
кафедры языкознания и иностранных языков
Российский государственный университет правосудия, филиал в Нижнем Новгороде
(603022, Россия, Нижний Новгород, проспект Гагарина 17А, e-mail: rapfno@yandex.ru)
Аннотация. Данная статья посвящена вопросу употребления английских модальных глаголов в юридических
документах с различными семантическими оттенками в зависимости от контекста изложенного текста. В статье
представлены результаты анализа юридических текстов договоров, соглашений, конвенций, нормативно-право-
вых актов и других видов документов, которые были взяты из электронной базы данных Официального журнала
Европейского Союза – правительственного бюллетеня Европейского Союза. Авторами данной статьи была про-
анализирована частота употребления модальных глаголов в вышеперечисленных юридических документах, среди
которых наиболее часто употребляемыми считаются shall, should, may, shall not и will, а к наиболее редко использу-
емым относятся may not, must, can, cannot и другие. Также в статье были выявлены функционально-семантические
особенности модальных глаголов, раскрывающие их основные значения юридической направленности, к которым
относятся: «обязательство», «запрещение», «разрешение», «возможность», «обещание». При интерпретации и пере-
воде текстов юридической документации необходимо принимать во внимание выделенные специфические особен-
ности английских модальных глаголов, чтобы избежать неясности, неточности и неопределенности, что является
недопустимым в правовой сфере. В своем исследовании авторы статьи опираются на богатейший опыт как отече-
ственных, так и зарубежных исследователей-лингвистов, что позволяет судить об обоснованности представленных
в статье выводов.
Ключевые слова: юридический английский язык, юридические документы, императивность, юридические тек-
сты, модальность, модальные значения, модальные глаголы, модальный глагол shall (not), модальный глагол should,
модальный глагол may, модальный глагол will.

MODAL VERBS IN LEGAL ENGLISH

© 2018
Kolarkova Oxana Gennadievna, candidate of pedagogical sciences, associate professor
of language study and foreign languages department
Savina Anna Anatolievna, candidate of pedagogical sciences, senior teacher of language study
and foreign languages department
Russian State University of Justice, Privolzhsky branch
(603022, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Gagarin Avenue, 17A, e-mail: rapfno@yandex.ru)
Abstract. This article is devoted to the question of the use of English modal verbs in legal documents with various se-
mantic shades depending on the context of the contained text. The article represents the results of legal texts analysis of trea-
ties, agreements, conventions, legal acts and other types of documents taken from electronic database of the Official Journal
of European Union – Government Bulletin of European Union. The authors of this article have analyzed the frequency of
modal verbs use in the above-mentioned legal documents among which shall, should, may, shall not and will are considered
to be the most frequently used while may not, must, can, cannot and others are related to the most rarely used. What’s more,
functional-semantic features of modal verbs have been identified in the article revealing their prior meanings of legal char-
acter which are the following: “obligation”, “prohibition”, “permission”, “possibility”, “promise”. It is necessary to take into
account these identified specific features of English modal verbs when interpreting and translating texts of legal documenta-
tion in order to avoid uncertainty, inaccuracy and ambiguity that are not valid in the sphere of legislation. The authors of the
article in their research work have drawn on the extensive experience of both Russian and foreign scientists-linguists and this
fact allows to judge the fairness of conclusions presented in this article.
Keywords: Legal English, legal documents, imperativeness, legal texts, modality, modal meanings, modal verbs, modal
verb shall (not), modal verb should, modal verb may, modal verb will.
Intensive development of trade-economic and business in particular, in the texts of legal documentation, to be timely
relations, expansion of international contacts around the and topical.
world demand linguistic basis elaboration with the aim of Modal verbs in Legal English is the subject matter of a
effective inter-lingual communication. Any activity of in- great deal of linguistic researches. Most of scientific works
ternational level requires the existence of official document deal with the problem of English modal verbs translation in
(treaty, contract, agreement, legal acts and their projects legal texts (Krapivkina O.A., Мasalova К.S., Мedvedeva
etc.), which are sure both to validate serious relationship of М.S. and so on); polysemy of some modal verbs in Legal
cooperating parties and to define their duties to each other. English (Aher M., Кaminskaya Е. V., Krapivkina O.A.,
As Krapivkina O.A. says, “in order to be effective and un- Zelenka R. and others); identification of their grammar and
derstandable to any member of society, any legal document some general semantic features (Huddleston R., Palmer F.R.,
must be clear, definite, containing unambiguous language. Pullum G.K.., Vinogradiv V.V. and others). From our point
Otherwise it can lead to uncertainty in the sphere of leg- of view, functional-semantic features of English modal verbs
islation, mistakes in law enforcement” [13, p. 114]. Legal exactly in the texts of legal documents are not fully identified
language as well as other professional languages is funda- in analyzed scientific researches in the sphere of linguistics.
mentally different from the language of general use. It has In this connection, the purpose of our article is firstly to
its both lexical and grammar features. Imperativeness is analyze how frequently English modal verbs are used in the
considered to the priority stylish feature referred mainly to texts of such legal documents as treaties, agreements, con-
legal documents. Imperativeness is defined as “certainty of ventions, legal acts and others, and also to identify func-
conduct requirements, exact definition of both rights and du- tional-semantic features of modal verbs, namely, their main
ties between subjects of legal relations which exclude any modal meanings of legal character.
discretion or free choice” [20]. The main role in imperative- Legal English is the style of the English language used
ness realization belongs to modal verbs. In this regard we by lawyers in their work. Legal language is used in wide va-
think the problem of English modal verbs in Legal English, riety of documents, from the drawing up of statutes, treaties,
136 Baltic Humanitarian Journal. 2018. Т. 7. № 1(22)
 филологические Коларькова Оксана Геннадьевна, Савина Анна Анатольевна
науки МОДАЛЬНЫЕ ГЛАГОЛЫ В ЮРИДИЧЕСКОМ АНГЛИЙСКОМ ...
declarations, conventions, etc. to the closing of agreements Union, which is published every working day in all of the of-
and contracts between individuals or corporations. Legal ficial languages of the member states. It was first published
documents are composed in most cases by professionals in 1952 and its first electronic version appeared in 2013
(contract drafters) who have to be sure that every sentence in [25]. This electronic version, given in special website [17]
document says exactly what it is intended to say and to avoid contains a database of legal texts concerning the European
misinterpretation at the same time. As Crystal and Davy Union. For the purposes of easier orientation within the site,
claim, writing of these documents is not spontaneous but is the texts are arranged in collections – treaties, international
copied directly from ´form books´ which contain established agreements, legislation in force, legislation in preparation,
phrases because “legal language must always behave in con- case-law, parliamentary questions. The access to the site is
formity with the law” [6, p. 214] when so much depends on free and no registration is needed.
the results of the interpretation. Having analyzed the texts of some legal documents we
Legal texts vary on a wide range of classifications have come to the conclusion that the modal verb shall is the
depending on its nature of function. Legal English can be verb with the highest frequency. It occurs 275 times out of
seen as consisting of several kinds of writing, depending 540 modal verbs in total which accounts 50,9% of all occur-
on their communicative function. As suggested in Risto rences in analyzed legal texts. In most cases the modal verb
Hiltunen’s book, there are three different types of legal shall conveys the meaning of “obligation”, “duty”, “order”,
writing to be distinguished: (a) academic texts which “command”, “enforcement”. Speculating on such type of
consist of academic research journals and legal textbooks, legal documents as “treaty” Sheina I.M. claims that modal
(b) juridical texts covering court judgments or law reports verb shall “provides prescriptive character of a treaty…..
and (c) legislative or statutory writings consisting of Acts of Modal shade of any treaty serves to strengthen the role of
Parliament, contracts, treaties, etc [8, p.81]. the concept “obligation” in the conceptual structure of legal
Legal texts by their nature exhibit a variety of modal discourse” [23, p. 48].
meanings essential to their content and texture. Modal mean- Thus, imposing obligation and expressing command the
ings are closely connected with the notion “modality”. verb shall is widely used in such international legal docu-
Modality (from Lat. modalis – modal и modus – mode, ments, as: conventions, agreements, legal acts, treaties, con-
measure) – is a general category found in many languages. tracts. This main function of shall in Legal English can be
It is one of the most difficult categories from theoretical and illustrated by following examples [17]:
pragmatic points of view. The category of “modality” has - The Commission shall be responsible for promoting
always been regarded as a necessary (integral) feature of and facilitating nuclear research in the Member States and
any sentence (utterance). The question concerning “modal- for complementing it by carrying out a Community research
ity” because of its diversity, multidimensional nature, still and training programme (Consolidated version of the Treaty
remains controversial and not yet finally settled in language establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.
study. A lot of scientific works written by Alsinbaeva R.G., 30.3.2010);
Aijmer K., Arutyunova N.D., Huddleston R., Vinogradov - The Parties shall take all necessary measures to imple-
V.V., Palmer F.R., Panfilov V.Z., Petrov N.E., Quirk R. and ment this Agreement (Agreement between the United States
so on are devoted to this question. and the European Union on the protection of personal in-
In Linguistic Encyclopedia “modality” is defined as formation relating to the prevention, investigation, detection,
“functional-semantic category which expresses various and prosecution of criminal offences. 10.12.2016).
kinds of statement relations towards reality and also different As a result of legal documents analysis one can state that
kinds of subjective qualification of those who report” [26, the modal verb shall has great semantic diversity and is used
p.303]. by legal drafters and lawyers for many other purposes. Such
In Russian linguistics the concept “modality” as an im- scientists-linguists as Butt P., Castle R., Zelenka R. talk in
portant semantic category revealing the relations of sentence their research works about so-called “overuse of shall”. Butt
or utterance content towards reality, was firstly formulated R. claims that “in one document shall serves a number of
and presented in accordance to the contemporary Russian purposes. There may be a primary purpose, with subsidiary
language by Academician Vinogradov V.V. Besides, the sci- purposes; or two or three purposes may carry equal weight”
entist summarily outlined functional hierarchy of those rela- [5, p. 132]. Besides its primary purpose (“obligation”,
tions [24]. In foreign linguistics the initial stage of this cate- “duty”), shall in Legal English can state circumstances, give
gory study was connected with the name of a French linguist a direction, to create a condition precedent or subsequent, to
Balli Sh. who made a fundamentally important comment on grant a right, to express intention or the future. According to
the following fact that “one mustn’t give the meaning to the Medvedeva M.S., the modal verb shall can have «the mean-
utterance if there isn’t any expression of modality” [4, p. 44]. ing of declarativity, strict compliance with the document,
“Modality may be defined as the manner in which the that makes it closer to the verb “must” because of strictness
meaning of a clause is qualified so as to reflect the speaker´s of the utterance [16, p. 165]. In a word, we can see that one
judgment of the likelihood of the proposition it expresses of the specific features of the verb shall in Legal English is
being true“ [Quirk 19, p.219]. In more practical view term its flexibility as it marks many types of meanings. But this
“modality” includes various semantic notions such as ability, “multi-meaningfulness” is “dangerous because it can lead to
possibility, obligation and imperative meaning [Huddleston an argument about which meaning it marks in particular sen-
9, p.173]. tences” [27, p. 33].
In our research “modality” is, above all, functional-se- The modal verb should takes the second place after shall
mantic category in the basis of which there are modal mean- as the most frequent and occurs 91 times that represents 16,8
ings of legal character taking place in the texts of English %. The verb should in legal documents can be often used as
legal documents. They are the following: “obligation”, “pro- a synonym of the verb shall in the meaning of obligation.
hibition”, “permission”, “possibility”, “promise”. - Such an agreement should be without prejudice to
One of the ways to express modality in Legal English the decision-making autonomy of the European Union
is modal verbs with appropriate legal modal meanings. In (Agreement between the European Union and the former
order to identify modal verbs and their functional-semantic Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia establishing a framework
features of legal character we’ve carried out the analysis of for the participation of the former Yugoslav Republic of
about 20 legal texts which are referred to the third type of Macedonia in European Union crisis management opera-
legal writings – legislative or statutory writings consisting tions. 12.12.2012);
of legal acts, contracts, treaties, agreements etc, according - The identification number under which VAT is paid
to Risto Hiltunen’s legal texts classification [8]. Legal texts should therefore be communicated in advance to enable
of various documents were taken from the Official Journal customs authorities to check its validity upon importation
of the European Union – Government Bulletin of European of the goods (Legislative acts. Council regulation amending
Балтийский гуманитарный журнал. 2018. Т. 7. № 1(22) 137
Kolarkova Oxana Gennadievna, Savina Anna Anatolievna philological
MODAL VERBS IN LEGAL ... sciences

Regulation (EU) on administrative cooperation and combat- terized by the frequent use of modal verbs, which are con-
ing fraud in the field of value added tax). sidered to be an inseparable part of Legal English. The most
It must be mentioned that the modal verb should in con- commonly used among them are shall, should, may, shall not
tract documents is often used with inversion. In this respect and will which predominate together reaching about 97,7%
it usually replaces the conjunction if making the sentence of all occurrences. All of them have various semantic shades
conditional. For instance [17]: of meanings depending on the context. Their main modal
- Should there be any major difficulties in implementing meanings of legal character are “obligation”, “prohibition”,
a decision as referred to in this Article, a Member State shall “permission”, “possibility”, “promise”. Identified semantic
refer them to the Council which shall discuss them and seek features of modal verbs in Legal English have to be taken
appropriate solutions (Consolidated version of the Treaty on into consideration when interpreting and translating legal
European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the documents to avoid uncertainty, ambiguity and mistakes that
European Union. 9.5.2008); can’t be allowed in legislation.
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 филологические Коларькова Оксана Геннадьевна, Савина Анна Анатольевна
науки МОДАЛЬНЫЕ ГЛАГОЛЫ В ЮРИДИЧЕСКОМ АНГЛИЙСКОМ ...
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Статья поступила в редакцию 29.12.2017

Статья принята к публикации 27.03.2018

Балтийский гуманитарный журнал. 2018. Т. 7. № 1(22) 139