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"Any technical language may be difficult to understand for ordinary people not belonging to the inner circle of specialist professionals. It is extremely difficult to convey complex information in a way that is understandable to most people. An established principle of the rule of law is that the need to be aware of the possible consequences of one’s behaviour implies the possibility of having access to the rules, in a language that is comprehensible to most of the population. Secondly, the exercise of powers in democracies is subject to public scrutiny, which involves a duty of transparency towards citizens at all levels of State activity, from legislation to administration. Moreover, full citizenship requires the possibility of taking part in social and economic life, and this possibility is often mediated by appropriate knowledge of law. Generally speaking, ‘access to law’ may be considered as a crucial aspect of the functioning of democratic systems, and involves:
1. access to information;
2. access to rights and justice;
3. democratic participation in public discourse;
4. social inclusion.
At the same time legal language is specific; it refers to concepts rather than tangible objects that can be drawn, pictured, or represented by symbols, and often adapts an existing ordinary word and applies it to a different object. We have been led, more and more, to believe that anything can be explained in an easy, immediate way. Particularly, commercial advertisements have constantly sought to simplify reality in order to persuade customers that they can understand any message, even the most difficult notions about for example engines, the performance of computers, and the chemistry of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. While superficial information, as long as it is not seriously misleading or does not affect fair competition between businesses, may be tolerated in advertising, on the contrary in a professional area, where decisions must be taken on the basis of available data, we ..."
Via Stefano KaliFire
PDF file, 284 pages