Language Policy: Lessons from Malaysia’s Bilingual Legal System

Powell, Richard

This book discusses multilingual postcolonial common law, focusing on Malaysia’s efforts to shift the language of law from English to Malay, and weighing the pros and cons of planned language shift as a solution to language-based disadvantage before the law in jurisdictions where the majority of citizens lack proficiency in the traditional legal medium. Through analysis of legislation and policy documents, interviews with lawyers, law students and law lecturers, and observations of court proceedings and law lectures, the book reflects on what is entailed in changing the language of the law. It reviews the implications of societal bilingualism for postcolonial justice systems, and raises an important question for language planners to consider: if the language of the law is changed, what else about the law changes?

Details

Published by: Springer

Publication Date: 2021-02-25

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9789811511752

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-1173-8

Dimensions: 235cm x155cm

Pages: 300