ABSTRACT
Language, like the air we breathe, surrounds us and, also like the air we breathe, rarely do we question it. However, at the outset of legal studies it is vital to take an opportunity to consider the potential language has for both the exertion of power and the shaping of ideas. It is important to realise that language is the mediating and shaping structure of law, which is in turn mediated and shaped by users and interpreters of the law.
