ILLA (International Language and Law Association) 2021 Focus Conference

The Digitalisation of Legal Discourse:

Digital Genres, Media and Analytical Tools

Bergamo and Online

16-17 December, 2021

Venue: University of Bergamo, Piazza Rosate 2, Bergamo, Italy

The conference is currently planned as a blended event.

Digitalisation is changing the system of law profoundly, and jurisprudence is inevitably evolving in a digital environment (Boehme-Neßler, 2008). This process represents not only a challenge, but also a potential way for the law to revitalise itself in terms of accessibility. In this respect, scholarly investigation should focus on two key aspects of the digitalization of law: (1) observing how new technology is redefining the manner in which legal services are offered, and (2) discussing to what degree new digital genres and media, whether considered from a linguistic, communicative, or legal perspective, are becoming critically important for both the fulfilment of justice and the understanding of law on the part of the public at large. Thus, the analysis of digital legal practices as social action opens up a series of questions: How do the exigencies of internet technology interplay with the constraints of established legilinguistic conventions? To what extent are the formalities of legal language preserved in "new" genres and media such as forums, blogs, or social networking sites? How do the demands of these practices, such as the need to attract and maintain an audience, influence the processes of knowledge popularisation and dissemination?

This Focus Conference aims to provide a forum for discussion for the investigation of Legal Discourse from a digital humanities’ perspective. It also aims to create opportunities for an integration of the work of the linguists, computer scientists, and legal scholars who focus on analysis of the processes related to the digitalisation of law and its popularisation in "new" genres and media.

The Conference provides an interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners, and educators to present the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns, as well as any solutions already adopted in their professional areas. Their insights will converge in a truly multidisciplinary effort to devise and build advanced networks of knowledge to facilitate the interpretation of data in the field of legal linguistics with a specific focus on digitalisation processes which concern legal discourse.

The topics envisaged for discussion include (but are not limited to) the following:

· Digitalisation of justice (e.g. digital practices for the solution of disputes)

· Mediatisation of law

· Popularisation and dissemination of law via digital tools (e.g. blogs, forums, websites, social networking sites, etc.).

The working language of the conference is English.

Invited Speakers:

Jan Engberg, Aarhus University

Dieter Stein, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf

Deadlines to remember

Registration: No later than 10^th November 2021

registration fee (even if online): 120 euros

Further information will be available at: https://illa.online/index.php/upcoming-events

Please send your abstract (300-400 words) to: illa-bergamo@unibg.it

For any information please contact illa-bergamo@unibg.it

Scientific Committee:

Patrizia Anesa, University of Bergamo

Ismael Arinas Pellón, Polytechnic University of Madrid

Vijay Bhatia, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Robert J. Dickey, Keimyung University

Jan Engberg, Aarhus University

Maurizio Gotti, University of Bergamo

Alissa Hartig, Portland State University

Stefania Maci, University of Bergamo

Azianura Hani Shaari, National University of Malaysia

Girolamo Tessuto, University of Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’

Organizing committee (University of Bergamo):

Stefania Consonni

Larissa D’Angelo

Michele Sala

Cinzia Spinzi

Virginia Zorzi

Segreteria:

Marta Colleoni

Valentina Brignoli

Valeria Giofré