The complexity of statutory language limits the understanding of common people regarding their rights. It also exacerbates lack of awareness which hinders their access to justice. It is important to break the language barrier to retain and ensure the integrity of the legal system.
This is the reason why top international law firms are advocating to use regional languages in courts. This will facilitate the process of a litigation and cultivate the confidence of foreigners and common people in the justice system.
Access to Justice
A growing movement aims to transform the way we think about access to justice. Its advocates argue that the current crisis in civil legal services is not just about lawyers or legal aid: it is a problem of exclusion and inequality. The movement calls for a new understanding of the nature of people’s legal problems and for new solutions that combine human assistance with professional innovation.
One important component of this approach is promoting alternative dispute resolution and other preventative measures designed to avoid legal problems at their infancy. Another aspect is to encourage and facilitate collaboration between members of the legal community and non-legal professionals who may be able to help solve people’s problems without the need for legal representation.
Many access to justice research papers and discussions focus on regulatory barriers to innovative forms of service delivery, while others concentrate on the obstacles to consumer awareness and engagement. This essay reverses the order of analysis and considers how strategies for expanding access to justice might be developed from a marketing perspective.
The President of India has recently called for translations of High Court judgments into regional and local languages to be made available to litigants. This would be an important step towards eliminating language barriers, which limit the access of people to the justice system.
Elimination of Language Difficulties
Language barriers are semantic problems that arise during the process of encoding and decoding messages into words and ideas. They are the main cause of misunderstandings between people who do not speak the same language. They can also result from the use of different dialects within the same language. India alone has 22 major languages, written in 13 scripts, and 720 distinct dialects.
As a lawyer, knowing these languages will allow you to directly communicate with clients and forge strong client relationships. It will also give you a better understanding of foreign cultures, customs, and etiquette, making it easier to serve clients from other countries.
Ultimately, it is important to break the language barrier because it prevents individuals from receiving proper representation and access to justice. This can be especially harmful in cases involving family law, where individuals may face substantial emotional and financial costs due to miscommunication and misunderstandings. Additionally, language barriers can worsen the inherent stress of engaging in legal proceedings, leading to more anxiety and distress for non-native speakers. This can be particularly harmful in domestic violence and divorce cases, where emotions are already high.
Communication with the Deaf
Getting the deaf person’s attention is essential before you begin to speak. You can do this by waving your hand in front of them or by gently tapping them on the shoulder. This will ensure that they know you are talking to them. It is also a good idea to look at them as you speak or sign, because this will increase the quality of your interaction and bring more emotion into it.
There are different ways to communicate with the deaf, but you should always ask the interpreter what arrangement is best for the situation. Some people like to sit to the side and slightly behind the interviewer, while others prefer to look at both the interviewer and the interpreter simultaneously. It is also important to be expressive with your body gestures, as this will add an element of fun and excitement to the conversation.
Many deaf people use a variety of communication techniques, including facial expressions, finger spelling, and body language. In addition to this, some are also able to speak, though they may need to use an interpreter for complex or technical information. This is particularly common in Emergency Departments, where the complexity of statutory language and the nature of the work often means that only an experienced interpreter can understand what is being said.