Semiotics of International Law: Trade and Translation

ISBN-13: 9789048190102 / Angielski / Twarda / 2010 / 220 str.

Evandro Menezes De Carvalho

Opis

Language carries more than meanings; language conveys a means of conceiving the world. In this sense, national legal systems expressed through national languages organize the Law based on their own understanding of reality. International Law becomes, in this context, the meeting point where different legal cultures and different views of world intersect. The diversity of languages and legal systems can enrich the possibilities of understanding and developing international law, but it can also represent an instability and unsafety factor to the international scenario. This multilegal-system and multilingual scenario adds to the complexity of international law and poses new challenges. One of them is legal translation, which is a field of knowledge and professional skill that has not been the subject of theoretical thinking on the part of legal scholars. How to negotiate, draft or interpret an international treaty that mirrors what the parties, - who belong to different legal cultures and who, on many occasions, speak different mother tongues -, want or wanted to say? By analyzing the decision-making process and the legal discourse adopted by the WTO's Appellate Body, this book highlights the active role of language in diplomatic negotiations and in interpreting international law. In addition, it also shows that the debate on the effectiveness and legitimacy of International Law cannot be separated from the linguistic issue.

Spis treści

Introduction.- Preliminary Considerations.- I. Toward A Scientific Analysis Of Legal Discourse.- II. Scope Of Study: Legal Discourse.- III. Epistemological Assumptions And Initial Concepts.- Part One. International Legal Discourse.- Section I – Legal Culture Building Legal Discourse.- Chapter 1 – Culture And Legal Culture: A Semiotic Approach.- 1.1 A Content For “Culture”: Two Basic Concepts.- 1.2 The Semiotic Mechanism Of Culture.- 1.3 One Concept Of “Legal Culture”.- Chapter 2 – Legal Culture As A System Of Signification.- 2.1 The Notion Of “Code” And Its Organizing Function In The Production And Interpretation Of Discourse.- 2.2 Code And Language: A Distinction And A Fundamental Relation For The Concept Of Legal Culture From A Semiotic Standpoint .- 2.3 Legal Culture As A System Of Linguistic Signs .- Chapter 3 – Legal Culture As Communication.- 3.1 Legal Discourse And Other Kinds Of Discourse.- 3.2 Criteria For A Typology Of Legal Discourse.- 3.3 Resorting To The Sources Of Law To Determine Relevant Discourse For A Study In Semiotics Of Law.- Section II – On Diplomatic Discourse And The Legal-Diplomatic Discourse.- Chapter 4 – Diplomatic Discourse.- 4.1 Diplomacy And Intercultural Communication.- 4.2 An “International Signification” For Diplomatic Discourse.- 4.3 Diplomatic Discourse And The Problem Of Choosing A Common Language.- 4.4 The Language War In Diplomacy.- 4.5 The Senders Of Diplomatic Discourse And Legal-Diplomatic Discourse.- Chapter 5 – Legal-Diplomatic Discourse.- 5.1 Codes Of National Legal Cultures.- 5.2 Mutual Influences Between National Discourses And Legal-Diplomatic Discourse.- 5.3 A“Third Thing”.- 5.4 Legal-Diplomatic Discourse And The Language Of Expression.- 5.5 The Translation Of Legal-Diplomatic Discourse.- Chapter 6 – The Power Of Legal-Diplomatic Discourse.- 6.1 A Founding Discourse For International Legal Systems: The WTO.- 6.2 The Subjective And Objective “Camouflage” Of Legal-Diplomatic Discourse.- 6.3 The Active Role Of Foreign Language.- 6.4 Ideology In Legal-Diplomatic Discourse.- Conclusion To Part One.- Part Two.- THE WTO Decision-Making Discouurse.- Section III – The Circumstances Of Decision-Making Discourse.- Chapter 7 – From The Gatt To The Wto: Regulating International Trade.- 7.1 Gatt: “A Mere Agreement”.- 7.2 From The Diplomatic Control In The Gatt To Strengthening Wto Control.- Chapter 8 – The Wto Dispute Settlement System And The Influence Of The Decision-Making Instances Of The Dispute Settlement Body.- 8.1 The Increased Legalness Of The Rules Under The Dispute Settlement Understanding.- 8.2 The Dispute Settlement Body: The Panels And The Appellate Body.- 8.3 The Appellate Body And Its Working Procedures: Strengthening The Legal Control Of The WTO.- 8.4 The Authority Of The Decision-Making Discourse Of The Appellate Body.- Section IV – The Linguistic Context In The Decision-Making Discourse Of The Appellate Body.- Chapter 9 – The Choice Of Meaning In Discourse.- 9.1 Sign-Function: Denotation And Connotation .- 9.2 Unlimited Semiosis V. Limits Of Interpretation .- 9.3 The Legal Code: Limiting Meaning.- Chapter 10 – The Authors Of Legal-Diplomatic Discourse: Interpreters And Intentions.- 10.1 Author And Reader: Between Empirical And Imagined Subjects .- 10.2 Interpretation: Searching For The Author’s Intention.- 10.3 The “Ghost Of The Interpreter” In Defining The Meaning Of Norms .- 10.4 Interpretation As The Search For Intentio Operis: An Equidistant Method Between Intentio Auctoris And Intentio Lectoris.- Chapter 11 – The Decision-Making Discourse Of The Appellate Body: Treaties And Dictionaries As Referents.- 11.1 Resorting To The Vienna Convention And The Prevalence Of Ordinary Meaning.- 11.2 English-Language Based Dictionarization Of The Decision-Making Discourse Of The Appellate Body.- 11.3 Sardines, Softwood Lumbers, And Gsp: Precedents For A Decision-Making Discourse Based On The Three Language Versions Of The Wto Agreements.- 11.4 The Challenges Of ‘Looking Beyond’ Dictionarization .- Conclusion.- List Of Sources.

Blurb

Language carries more than meanings; language conveys a means of conceiving the world. In this sense, national legal systems expressed through national languages organize the Law based on their own understanding of reality. International Law becomes, in this context, the meeting point where different legal cultures and different views of world intersect.   The diversity of languages and legal systems can enrich the possibilities of understanding and developing international law, but it can also represent an instability and unsafety factor to the international scenario. This multilegal-system and multilingual scenario adds to the complexity of international law and poses new challenges. One of them is legal translation, which is a field of knowledge and professional skill that has not been the subject of theoretical thinking on the part of legal scholars. How to negotiate, draft or interpret an international treaty that mirrors what the parties, – who belong to different legal cultures and who, on many occasions, speak different mother tongues – , want or wanted to say?   By analyzing the decision-making process and the legal discourse adopted by the WTO’s Appellate Body, this book highlights the active role of language in diplomatic negotiations and in interpreting international law. In addition, it also shows that the debate on the effectiveness and legitimacy of International Law cannot be separated from the linguistic issue.   “Studies as Evandro Menezes de Carvalho’s are essential to those who wish to work in the field of International Trade Law, not only because they can be directly applied to a semiotic analysis of the reports of the Appellate Body, but also because of how much they represent as a method of research and thought within the other areas of International Trade Law. For this reason, I highly recommend this book as a necessary tool to those working in International Trade Law.”   Luiz Olavo Baptista Former member of the WTO Appellate Body (2001-2009)