Legal Language Assessment: when your client's Arabic origin is disputed

In most matters the question is what the client said. In some, it is where their Arabic comes from.

A claimed region inside Yemen. A claim to have lived all one’s life in Kuwait as a Bidoon. When the respondent disputes origin, the way a client speaks becomes part of the evidence, whether or not anyone has analysed it properly.

What a Legal Language Assessment is

A Legal Language Assessment is a written analysis of the regional and sub-regional markers in a client’s Arabic, at three levels:

• Lexical: the words a speaker reaches for, especially for everyday things.
• Phonological: how sounds are pronounced.
• Morphological: how words are built and inflected.

The report sorts what it finds into three groups: features consistent with the region claimed, features that are not, and features that are indeterminate. The reasoning for each is set out so that you can weigh it yourself.

What it is not

It is independent linguistic analysis for the instructing solicitor’s consideration. It is not a forensic determination of nationality or origin, and it is not prepared as expert evidence for a court or tribunal. Formal expert-witness reports are not offered at present.

I also do not interpret in any matter in which I have provided consultancy to a party.

Why one feature is never enough

Single markers mislead. Pronouncing ق (qaf) as a hard “g”, for example, is shared by many Gulf, Yemeni and Sudanese speakers, so on its own it narrows very little.

Speakers also adjust. A client being interviewed by someone who speaks a different variety will often move towards that person’s Arabic, or towards Modern Standard Arabic, without meaning to. Family history, time spent elsewhere and media exposure all leave traces too.

That is why a sound assessment reports what is indeterminate rather than forcing every feature into a conclusion. An analysis that sounds certain about everything is a warning sign, not a strength.

When to consider one

• The respondent disputes the client’s claimed region or nationality.
• You want to test your own client’s account of origin before you rely on it.
• The interview record suggests the client and the interpreter did not share the same variety. In that case an interview record review may be the better first step.

Scoping and fees

Legal Language Assessment is available for Yemeni and Kuwaiti Arabic, from £750. The fee and scope are confirmed in writing before work begins, and more complex or multi-part instructions are quoted individually.

A free 30-minute pre-instruction consultation is available to scope the work first. Case evidence is not discussed outside a formal instruction.