Legal terms glossaries – English and other languages

A collection of published legal terms glossaries and guidance, with clear language definitions and explanations.

Please add links to further glossaries you know of, in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Arabic or any other language, in the comments section. Let’s improve legal copy comprehensibility, readability and accessibility for all.

English

• ‘Legal Glossary’ – The Law Society website
• ‘A to Z guide to legal phrases’ – Plain English Campaign website (PDF, 337kb)
• Legal content readability guidance – archived Readability Guidelines wiki
• Legislation for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland explained – UK government website

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Spanish

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French

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German

• ‘Das Rechtslexikon’, Legal Encyclopaedia – German Federal Agency for Civic Education website

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Italian

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Mandarin

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Arabic

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Legal terms – the case for, and against

Legal terms sum-up specific circumstances. They have a precise, fixed meaning within the legal system and courts. For people who know the area of law where a particular term applies, it can help to make things clear, as, when you know what they mean, legal terms are definitions in themselves. So, expert stakeholders are understandably keen to keep original terms in website copy and client communications.

Plain language – benefits of

But while that makes things clear for people with legal knowledge, it makes things unnecessarily complicated for everyone else. To the non-legally trained, legal terms are just jargon. This is hard for everyone, but particularly for people with low literacy, which is about 1 in 5 adults in the UK. Plus academic papers and published studies tell us even legal professionals prefer clear language, when it is not their area of law.

Our judgement

Why not have both? It can actually be helpful to keep the original legal term in communications, as it is a legal record of what was meant. However, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t come with an explanation!

The second problem – legalese

As well as all the legal terminology, legal copy tone of voice and style itself usually breaks every clear language principle and readability guideline. It’s so famously hard to read, and difficult to understand, that it’s got its own descriptor: ‘legalese’. For example:

• long sentences with complex structuring
• Latin phrases
• complex words requiring a high literacy vocabulary
• passive tense
• third person
• duplication
• long flowing paragraphs

Clear language and other readability good practices for accessible content and communications for all can help fix legalese.

Disclaimer: Always check copy with your organisation’s legal team before publishing or using in communications.