Judges and the Language of Law

Reviews / Votes

"This elegantly written monograph argues persuasively that a central cause for the decades-long expansion of judicial power lies not so much in the ambition of judges as in changes of the law itself: As the specificity of laws has declined, so the power of the courts has expanded. Matthew Williams' masterful analysis, which straddles history, law and political science, causes us to rethink key theories of the judicialization of politics. His work is a tour de force that will be appreciated not only for its combination of computational text analysis with nuanced process tracing histories of judicial power, but also for its expansive ambition, covering seven decades and five jurisdictions." (Petra Schleiter, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
"We live in an age of data and data analytics. Analysing huge swathes of legislative text across time and jurisdictions, Matthew Williams has revealed a series of fascinating changes in language use. He clearly demonstrates that indeterminacy in the language of legislation affords considerable scope for judges and those exercising judicial determinations to exercise wide powers of interpretation. This clearly written book with its compelling narrative is an important contribution to our understanding of law and policy in the 21st century." (Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Professor of Computer Science, University of Oxford, United Kingdom).