Acceso usuarios
María Angeles Ruiz Moneva
In this study I have analysed a selection of judgments of courts of appellate jurisdiction of the Spanish and English legal systems. The aim is to trace the main discourse and rhetorical similarities and differences that may be appreciated in this textual genre in the two cultures concerned. The reasons why I have focused on this genre have to do with its recurrence and importance in the most important branches of the legal system, and also with the fact that judgments of appellate courts necessarily involve references to other previous legal documents. At the same time, the Spanish and the English legal systems stand for representative instances of two very different models �the continental model, inheritor of the Roman tradition, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the common-law system. The paper will explore the ways in which these judgments illustrate the main features of Spanish or English legal language, respectively, and will analyse how impersonal and interpersonal aspects are covered in the judgments issued in each of these legal systems.
