International Conference
on Legal Linguistics
Law and Language in International Partnerships and Conflicts
March 17-20, 2010
University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland
It has long been recognised that business relations, partnerships and contracting are all language-related issues and similarly failures in these relationships are failures in language use in one way or another.
The conference will focus on successful international partnerships from a proactive point of view. The salient questions in this context are: How language risks may arise and how they may be avoided. Where this process fails, we must go further to investigate how disputes are handled in arbitration, mediation and litigation. We will particularly address the issue whether there is a gap between the real and the ideal.
In broaching these issues, this conference will draw on contributions such as the research of International Commercial Arbitration Practices: A Discourse Analytical Study, an international project spanning jurisdictions as diverse as Hong Kong , China , Brazil and Europe led by Professor Vijay K. Bhatia from the City University of Hong Kong. The conference represents an opportunity for Finnish and international scholars and practitioners to compare their experiences and share their insights.
In 2001, we, the same organising group, convened a conference entitled Law and Language: Prospect and Retrospect in Levi, Lapland . It is seldom that so many international experts - both researchers and practitioners - in law and language have an opportunity to communicate. It has now come time to convene such a forum again in Lapland , this time in Rovaniemi.
In March, winter is at its best in Lapland – plenty of white snow and sunny clear skies! In addition to the conference programme, you may want to take the opportunity to exercise winter sports, down-hill or cross-country skiing or ”flat-country” skiing on the frozen river.
Looking forward to seeing you all in Rovaniemi in March 2010!
Welcome to Lapland !
Conference chair: Dr. Tarja Salmi-Tolonen LL.D., Phil.Lic.
and
The Chair of Legal Linguistics, the University of Lapland
The Legal Linguistics Association of Finland
Sponsors
The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies
The Finnish Cultural Foundation
The Rovaniemi Court of Appeal
City of Rovaniemi
The Association of Finnish Lawyers
