Law French () is an archaic language originally based on Anglo-Norman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and, later, English. It was used in the law courts of England from the 13th century. Its use continued for several centuries in the courts of England and Wales and Ireland. Although Law French as a narrative legal language is obsolete, many individual Law French terms continue to be used by lawyers and judges in common law jurisdictions.
History The earliest known documents in which 'French', i.e. Anglo-Norman, is used for discourse on English law date from the third quarter of the thirteenth century, and include two particular documents. The first is the 1258 Provisions of Oxford,Printed in William Stubbs, Select Charters illustrative of English Constitutional History (9th ed., ed. H. C. F. Davis) (Oxford, 1913), pp. 378 et seqq. consisting of the terms of oaths sworn by the 24 magnates appointed to rectify abuses in the rule of King Henry III, together with summaries of their rulings. The second is the Casus PlacitorumW. F. Dunham (ed.), The Casus Placitorum and Cases in the King's Courts 1272–1278 (Selden Society, vol. 69) (London, 1952) (), a collection of legal maxims, rules, and brief narratives of cases.
In these works the language is already sophisticated and technical, well equipped with its own legal terminology. This includes many words that are of Latin origin, but whose forms have been shortened or distorted in a way that suggests a long history of French usage. Some examples include advowson from the Latin , meaning the legal right to nominate a parish priest; neif[e], from the Latin , meaning a female serf, and essoyne or essone from the Latin , meaning a circumstance that exempts one from a royal summons. Later replaced in Latin, thus replacing the Latin form with the French one.
Until the early fourteenth century, Law French largely coincided with the French used as an everyday language by the upper classes. As such, it reflected some of the changes that northern dialects of mainland French had undergone. Hence, in the documents mentioned above, 'of the king' is rendered as del rey, or del roy, whereas by about 1330 it had become , as in modern French, or du roy.Many examples in D. W. Sutherland (ed.), The Eyre of Northamptonshire, 3–4 Edward III, A.D. 1329–1330 (Selden Society, vol. 97–8) (London, 1983) (note however that this text also shows instances of rei or rey)
During the 14th century, vernacular French in England suffered a rapid decline. The use of Law French was criticized by those who argued that lawyers sought to restrict entry into the legal profession. The Pleading in English Act 1362 ("Statute of Pleading") acknowledged this change by ordaining that thenceforward all court pleading must be in English, so "every Man ... may the better govern himself without offending of the Law".Peter M. Tiersma, A History Of The Languages Of Law (2012), accessed 2 February 2018 From that time, Law French lost much of its status as a spoken language.
Law French remained in use for the 'readings' (lectures) and 'moots' (academic debates), held in the Inns of Court as part of the education of young lawyers, but it rapidly became only a written language. It ceased to acquire new words and its grammar broke down. By about 1500, gender was often neglected, giving rise to une home ('a (feminine) man') or un feme ('a (masculine) woman'). More and more of its vocabulary became English, as it was only used by English, Welsh, and Irish lawyers and judges who often spoke no real French.
In the seventeenth century, the moots and readings fell into neglect, and the rule of Oliver Cromwell, with its emphasis on removing the relics of archaic ritual from legal and governmental processes, struck a further blow to the language. Even before then, in 1628, Sir Edward Coke acknowledged in his preface to the First Part of the Institutes of the Law of England, that Law French had almost ceased to be a spoken tongue. It was still used for case reports and legal textbooks until almost the end of the seventeenth century, but only in an anglicized form.
The Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730 made English, instead of Law French and Latin, the obligatory language for use in the courts of England and in the court of exchequer in Scotland. It was later extended to Wales, and seven years later a similar act was passed in Ireland, the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737.
Example A frequently quoted example of the heavily anglicised form of Law French that was for case reports and legal textbooks until almost the end of the seventeenth century comes from one of Chief Justice Sir George Treby's marginal notes in an annotated edition of Dyer's Reports, published 1688:
The modern English translation is as follows:
Below is a highly-literal translation to Modern French using cognates, that should be mostly parseable to a fluent speaker. Non-cognates are indicated in square brackets.
The macaronic nature of this production can be more easily seen if it is reproduced with the various languages formatted as such: English, French, 'Latin', ambiguously French or Latin, ambiguously French or English.
Much of the ambiguous vocabulary represents what would be correctly spelled English or Latin, but oddly-spelled or period-inappropriate vocabulary in French; even under the most favourable analysis, the note represents usage of multiple forms of French, English, and Latin simultaneously. Treby did not even use the term , a familiar concept and common at the time. Interestingly, one can observe the use of both the French and English words for "immediately" and the use of Old French (ceo) and Latin ('fuit') forms for core vocabulary, i.e. "this" and "was" respectively.
Survivals in modern legal terminology The postpositive adjectives in many legal noun phrases in English—attorney general, fee simple—are a heritage from Law French. Native speakers of French may not understand certain Law French terms not used in modern French or replaced by other terms. For example, the current French word for "mortgage" is . Many of the terms of Law French were converted into modern English in the 20th century to make the law more understandable in common-law jurisdictions. Some key Law French terms remain, including the following:
Term or phrase Literal translation Definition and use arson burning From Old French , from Late Latin "a burning," (acc.) from the verb , "to burn." The original Old English term for illegal burning was , .assizes sittings (Old French , sitting)Sitting of the court held in different places throughout a province or region.attorneyappointed (Old French )attorney-at-law (lawyer, equivalent to a solicitor and barrister) or attorney-in-fact (one who has power of attorney).autrefois acquit or autrefois convict acquitted (literally 'acquired') / convicted another time peremptory pleas that one was previously acquitted or convicted of the same offence. bailiffAnglo-Norman baillis, baillif "steward; administrator", from bail "custody, charge, office" Court bailiff: marshal of the court; a court attendant; any person to whom authority, guardianship or jurisdiction is entrusted whose main duty is keeping order in the courtroom.