MP111Z Language I.1 - English for Lawyers

Faculty of Law
Autumn 2026
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Štěpánka Dillingerová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Radmila Doupovcová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Alena Hradilová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. et Mgr. Věra Hromádková (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Barbora Chovancová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Kateřina Chudová (seminar tutor)
PhDr. Hana Kallus, M.A., Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Pavla Svobodová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Radek Šimek, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Lenka Pavlíková (assistant)
Ing. Daniela Svobodová (assistant)
Mgr. Kateřina Špácová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Barbora Chovancová, Ph.D.
Language Centre, Faculty of Law Division – Language Centre
Contact Person: Lenka Pavlíková
Supplier department: Language Centre, Faculty of Law Division – Language Centre
Prerequisites
!NOWANY( MP108Z German for Lawyers , MP109Z French for Lawyers , MP116Z Spanish for Lawyers ) && ! CM108Z German for Lawyers && ! MP108Z German for Lawyers &&! MP109Z French for Lawyers && ! MP116Z Spanish for Lawyers && ! CM111Z English for Lawyers
The students are required to reach at least intermediate level of general English before they enter the course. All language skills will be practised with special focus on English for Specific Purposes (Legal English) and English for academic purposes.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Abstract
In this semester, the student will become acquainted with legal language and its characteristic features and learn to recognize the differences between Legalese and Plain English. They will also be introduced to linguistic mediation, through which they will be able to explain professional terms to clients in a way that they understand. The student will also learn to understand and apply basic legal terms in order to describe the main features of continental and “common” law systems. They will learn to define and explain basic differences between civil and public law and describe legal institutions and the English and Czech systems of courts in the seminars. They will become familiar with different types of legal education and legal work.
Learning outcomes
After finishing this course, the student will be able to recognize differences between Legalese and Plain English. Through linguistic mediation, they will be able to explain professional terms to clients in a way that they understand. The students will also be able to use legal terms efficiently (e.g.Common law, Continental law), use the language of comparison (e.g. civil and public law), define legal terms (e.g in the are of criminal law), both when talking to a fellow lawyer and a client, identify Legalese and Plain English, and clearly describe different legal professions in English.
Key topics
  • Sources of Law (EU Law)
  • Legal Language and Profession
  • Division of Law and Courts
  • Criminal Law
  • Linguistic mediation
Study resources and literature
    recommended literature
  • COSTELLO Natasha a KULBICKI, Louise. Practical English Language Skills for Lawyers: Improving Your Legal English. Routledge, 2023, 376 s. ISBN 9780367690465
  • KROIS-LINDNER, Amy and Matt FIRTH. Introduction to international legal English : a course for classroom or self-study use : student's book. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 160 s. ISBN 9780521718998. info
  • CHROMÁ, Marta. Czech-English law dictionary with explanations. 3. vyd. Voznice: Leda, 2010, 481 s. ISBN 9788073352493. info
  • Česko anglický právnický slovník s vysvětlivkami (Czech-English Law Dictionary with Explanations). 1st ed. Voznice: LEDA, 2001, 478 pp. ISBN 90-85927-90-X. info
  • KROIS-LINDNER, Amy and TRANSLEGAL. International Legal English. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, 2011, 336 pp. ISBN 978-0-521-27945-1. info
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
interactive language seminar
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
Requirements: Active participation in class discussion, submitting a written assignment, final written credit test (a translation, linguistic mediation of terms to be fitted in a dialogue between a lawyer and a layperson and a short written text); students need to score at least 70%.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught every week.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Je vyžadována nejméně středně pokročilá úroveň na úrovni maturity na gymnáziu
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses

Zobrazit další předměty

Teacher's information
https://is.muni.cz/auth/el/1422/podzim2015/MV313Z/adapt/index.qwarp
All the information about the subject can also be found in the Interactive syllabi in the Information System and are placed on the Language Centre notice board. These include the content of seminars, a full list of compulsory and recommended literature, and credit test requirements, including attendance. The hours in which the teachers can be reached by students for consultations can be found in the Information system and by the doors of individual teacher's offices. Teachers communicate with their seminar groups also through the MSTeams platform.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024, Autumn 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2026, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/autumn2026/MP111Z