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“The person shall be given the opportunity to appear voluntarily at the hearing unless the person fails to appear or unless the person is detained pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection.”

Did you understand that? This isn’t normal English and if you found it difficult to comprehend DON’T worry, but DO keep reading.

A few years ago I wrote a post about “legalese”, or ‘legal language’ used in English. Take a look at this original post if you haven’t read it already, before you continue with this post today, which is also on legal language used in English.

Today we are going to take another look at some legal terms and vocabulary used in English. This look at legal language will likely be most interesting and useful to ESL learners who work in business or law, but some of the terms I am highlighting pop up in everyday situations or in movies/TV.  So knowing what these strange and somewhat severe looking words mean can be helpful to anyone.

Let’s start by taking a closer look at the sentence at the top of this post:

“The person shall be given the opportunity to appear voluntarily at the hearing unless the person fails to appear or unless the person is detained pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection.”

Shall (a verb) is a very common word used in legal English. In legal terms “shall” means something must be done. This is opposed to saying something can be done, it is allowed, or it is possible. Shall = must, in legal language.

Pursuant (an adverb) is a legal term that means according to, in accordance with, connect to, or relating to. This word is usually used to refer back to something that has already been discussed in a legal document.

Here is another legal sentence where we see some common legal terms.

“This person is immune from any liability for defamation or statements made in good faith.”

immune (adjective) = not able to be punished for something
liability (noun) = legal responsibility for what someone has said or done
defamation (noun) = saying bad things or untrue things about a person
good faith (noun) = something done with good intentions

Here is another great legal word to know:

“Notwithstanding any other provision of the law…”

notwithstanding (preposition) = in spite of; despite the fact of something else already happening or having been said

Here is a list of a few legal terms that you will see often:

a warrant (noun) = a legal document that gives the police the right to take and hold a person
probable cause (noun) = there is enough evidence to believe a person should be arrested, searched, or have legal proceedings started against the person
a citation (noun) = a ticket (written or verbal) giving warning or requiring a person to go to court
under oath (phrase) = promising to tell the truth in a court of law

Here is one last legal sentence for us to look at:

“If counsel is appointed at state expense, payment of expenses and compensation relating to legal counsel shall be made as provided under CA76.899.”

Counsel is a very important legal word to know! When the word counsel is used as a noun it means “a lawyer” or “an attorney”. Don’t forget to always consult (consult = talk to) counsel if you have legal matters!