Abstract
This chapter is about the construction of “truth” by judges in legal decisionmaking. It investigates how judges operating within an adversarial system of law are able to “find the true facts” from the competing evidence presented to the court by parties to a dispute. In the process, it identifies the techniques used by judges to explain the phenomenon of conflicting accounts of reality in such a way that the belief in a single reality is not threatened. Fundamental to this analysis is the notion that language plays an integral role in the production and reproduction of social facts and social order.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Exploring Courtroom Discourse |
| Subtitle of host publication | The Language of Power and Control |
| Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| Pages | 193-208 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781315581620 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781409423478 |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Apr 2016 |