Courtroom Discourse in Common-Law Contexts. Past and Present

The importance of language in the study of courtroom trials has been comprehensively investigated from a series of diverse perspectives. Some of these perspectives are taken into consideration herein to carry out the exploration of various aspects of courtroom discourse, i.e. the witnesses’ testimonies, the transcripts of the proceedings, the particular features of questioning and turn-taking, along with matters related to courtroom interpreting and to the interaction and negotiation of different professional discourses (legal and medical) embedded in this institutional context. This book has been a long time in the making: it started as a collection of independent papers and it draws together, along with the new material, different investigations of courtroom discourse in Common Law contexts previously presented or published in more highly specific contexts.