ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the main determinants of spoken language styles used in courtrooms. Even within a specialised legal setting, speech style co-varies with participant roles and with different stages in legal proceedings. The chapter introduces the speech styles used by advocates, which form a distinct kind of adversarial rhetoric. Speech styles are relevant to court hearings because they combine to create a complex speech event type. Linguistic, and especially sociolinguistic, work on courtroom discourse makes possible more precise description of the different styles and of issues they raise. Being the most powerful persons in a courtroom, judges initiate speech whenever they wish. Where jurors are present, lawyers minimise apparent 'legalese'; and in examining witnesses, they orient themselves towards a coherent narrative linking the questions they ask. The role of juries in the delivery of justice is fiercely defended as a principle, particularly when linked to criticisms of alternative systems and especially as presumption of jury trial is gradually withdrawn.
