Legal Linguistics
45.04.02 In russian
Level of education Master
Type of instruction Full-time
Duration 2 years
The master’s programme "Legal Linguistics" is aimed at developing in students knowledge of the theory and methodology of legal linguistics. During training, students acquire knowledge and practical skills in the main fields of linguistics related to expertise and law. They also master linguistic research methods, and the theory and practice of linguistic analysis when working with different types of texts.
- Introduction to Linguistic Evaluation and Assessment
- History of State and Law
- Legal Rhetoric
- The Official Language and Language Policy of the State
- Linguistic Expert Evaluation of Legally Valid Text
- History of the Language of Russian Law
- Interpretation of Law
- This interdisciplinary programme provides uniquely designed training courses. They help develop both theoretical and practical competencies in the field of linguistic expert evaluation of human speech activity products.
- On-site internships are conducted in organisations that require specialists with expert skills in legal language.
- Students have an opportunity to participate in scientific events (conferences, seminars, etc.) that are directly related to the programme syllabus as speakers or volunteers. These include: the scientific conference ‘Linguistic Evaluation: Theory and Practice’ at the Institute of Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; the round table discussion ‘Interrogation in Jurisprudence and Legal Linguistics’ at the Northwestern Branch of the Russian State University of Justice; and the scientific seminar ‘Law, Book and Literature’ at the Faculty of Law of St Petersburg State University of Economics.
- Topics for graduation projects are proposed by employers who include: the International Bar Association of St Petersburg; the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) in the Northestern Federal District; and the North-Western Forensic Science Centre of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.
- The research practice ‘Linguistic Consulting’ is carried out at the Research Institute of State Language of St Petersburg University and other research institutions of St Petersburg such as: the Institute of Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and the Legal Clinic laboratory of St Petersburg State University of Economics.
- Students have an opportunity to take part in the annual international conference of students of Philology and in exchange programmes with foreign universities.
- Language of legal texts: history and current state
- Language means of manipulation and influence
- Document language, the history of language (genres) of business communication
- Linguistic evaluation studies as a separate area of modern linguistics
- Trademarks and naming as objects of linguistic expert evaluation
- Rhetorical formulae of modern legal discourse
- Invective function of Russian language: applied aspects
- History of the legal term: judicial and linguistic aspects
- Language signs of extremist texts
- Comparative study of legal (written and oral) texts of various linguistic cultures
- The University of Barcelona
- The University of Trier
- The University of Helsinki
The graduates can conduct various kinds of linguistic expert evaluation; develop recommendations on the linguistic support of legal activity; carry out research.