ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how the pragmatic dimension of meaning should be understood in relation to the language of law in particular. It outlines a number of factors which complicate the interpretation of legal texts. The chapter describes how interpretation in law has treated indirect and implied meaning. It examines how far further dialogue between linguistic pragmatics and law is likely to enrich the thinking and practice of either field. The chapter outlines several pragmatic areas likely to be of interest in legal interpretation. Alongside comprehensive reviews of legal interpretation found in Barak and Greenawalt, two more specific analyses have been put forward of whether, and how well, linguistic theories of communication apply to legal language. Given that predictability is an essential quality of law, contextual variation in this respect introduces unwelcome uncertainty in legal interpretation. Legal interpretation, however, rather than linguistics, is the authoritative sub-system for dealing with meaning in law.
