Today, there is a clear need in developing a unified theoretical model of legal argumentation viable for all areas of legal practice and legal doctrine. Despite the existence of several models within either general argumentation theory or multiple judicial-reasoning doctrines, none of them can be used as a universal tool for studies of legal argumentation. The aim of this article is to suggest a theoretical model of legal argumentation viable for analysis of legal argumentation not only in judicial reasoning but also in other areas, e.g., law making, law application, or law interpretation. The subject matter of this article is a theoretical model of legal argumentation as a universal multidisciplinary theoretical basis for legal argumentation analysis. The theoretical model of legal argumentation encompasses an argumentative situation, a body of legal arguing, instruments of legal arguing and argumentation, a reconstruction and an evaluation of legal argumentation. In its turn, the body of legal arguing includes: parties of legal arguing, a subject of legal arguing, and a content of legal arguing. The instruments of legal arguing include legal and other arguments, argument schemes, argumentation structures, and rules of legal argumentation.
The article is dedicated to a general overview of language tools of legal argumentation. It is concluded that legal arguing should be presented according to the scheme «from standpoint to argument», designated for better identification of legal argumentation. Nevertheless, decision writing guidelines for judges recommend to present judicial argumentation according to the scheme «from argument to standpoint». This scheme is embodied in the argumentation of judicial decisions by the majority of Ukrainian judges. However, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court introduces the first approach, presenting its legal argumentation from the standpoint to the argument in certain of its resolutions. Lexical and syntactic means are considered as the tools of legal arguing. The author points out that language tools of legal argumentation introduce the elements of the argumentation – the arguments and the standpoint as well as connect the separate argumentations in a multiple one. Simultaneously, lexical and syntactic means can serve as language indicators of argumentative moves in legal argumentation as far as they introduce the standpoint or the arguments. The author analyses language indicators of argumentation in legal reasoning in Ukrainian legal system. The conjunctions «and», «but», «therefore», «because» and their semantic equivalents serve different purposes and may indicate different elements of argumentative constructions. The conjunction «and» often serves to combine the premises of the argument. The conjunction «but» and similar can be used both for the introduction of counter-argumentative constructions and for the introduction of parts of the counter-argument. The conjunction «because» or its semantic equivalents is indicator of causal relation in the broader sense. The conjunction «therefore» and similar often serve to explain or continue the idea. Language indicators of legal argumentation in law-making, official legal interpretation and legal application are considered. Lexical and syntactic means of legal argumentation are not always used correctly. Therefore, they can hardly indicate the argumentative moves correctly. Long sentences of arguments create additional opportunities for «hanging» additional senses on these premises. This may lead to weaker support for the conclusion of the argumentation. Consequently, the premises of the argument may need further justification.
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