Podrobný výpis o publikaci

In legal scholarship, the demand for empirical data is critical when navigating the complexities of legal language. The integration of corpus linguistics serves as a valuable tool for analyzing legal language and advancing legal theory, particularly in clarifying vague legal terms and their meanings (see, e.g., Mouritsen 2017, Vogel et al. 2022). This study demonstrates how a legal language corpus—comprehensive linguistic data accessible by software—can enhance jurisprudence, especially in interpreting legal terminology. I introduce KoPr, a newly constructed corpus of legal Czech, designed as a representative and balanced resource for analyzing legal language. KoPr encompasses a wide range of Czech legal texts, ensuring representation across different legal branches, speakers, and genres (cf. Tiersma, 2000). Unlike existing legal corpora, KoPr includes not only statutes and case law but also texts from legal practice, doctrinal works, and communications among legal professionals during the process of law. To illustrate KoPr’s utility, I conduct a corpus-driven study of the term "public order" ("veřejný pořádek"), examining its framing in various legal texts. This analysis highlights how KoPr can investigate the meanings and usages of legal terms across different contexts. By revealing variations and contextual nuances often overlooked in traditional legal research, this approach underscores how corpus linguistics can provide a more empirical understanding of legal language and contribute to the interpretation and evolution of legal terms. Ultimately, this paper showcases the broader potential of KoPr to enrich legal scholarship and deepen our understanding of legal concepts in practice.