Using Comics to Communicate Legal Contract Cancellation

Abstract

This article investigates how comics can be used to adequately communicate the correct process of contract cancellation and whether comics can enhance understanding of the legal process. A survey of pre-owned vehicle buyers of various levels of education in Pretoria, South Africa found that when comics are used to communicate contract cancellation, a significant increase in the comprehension of the legal cancellation process occurs. The results may influence how contracting parties may choose to communicate complex legal issues in future, specifically to consumers with little formal education or when parties are confronted with severe language barriers, which is highly relevant in a country such as South Africa with eleven official languages and generally low levels of education. The article argues that representatives tasked with explaining contractual content to contracting parties should consider making use of comics to aid them in their communication process to ensure proper understanding and execution of terms and conditions, which in turn may lead to fewer disputes and avoid expensive litigation.

The Visualized Employment Contract. An Exploratory Study on Contract Visualization in Danish Employment Contracts

“…Women showed a higher degree of actionable knowledge when using the comic contract (49.75 percent higher) than men (17.00 percent higher). The benefits identified in earlier studies (Vitasek 2017;Botes 2017;Andersen & McGuire 2019) thus also accrue in a context where literacy is not a problem and where overall labour protection standards are already high. Due to the small sample size of the study, which was partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, no broad or sweeping generalizations can be made based on the experimental results.…”

“…At the same time, it provides an example of how designers of comic contracts could test the effectiveness of their contracts and whether the goal of improved communication of the employment conditions is achieved. The case studybuilds on existing empirical research on comic contracts (Andersen and McGuire, 2019;Botes, 2017). The goal of the study is twofold.…”

Different Texts for Different (Legal) Languages: In Search of a New Approach

“…Indeed, through a strategic combination of the visual (thanks to which, for example, the contract parties become the characters of a story that develops in a specific geographical and temporal setting, thereby providing various contextualizing clues) and plain verbal language, the use of comics can make documents such as the above accessible to most people. This is why, as scholars such as Happio, Plewe and de Rooy suggest (2016), recently followed by Botes (2017), South Africa has been tentatively experimenting with legally binding comics, although in a limited number.…”

“…As demonstrated by the course described here, in fact, comics have been used in legal contexts, albeit rather occasionally, to overcome the difficulties experienced by uneducated people, people with learning disabilities and foreigners (Gorman, 2003;Botes, 2017). However, as the research project on which the course was based suggests, this approach might well become an extremely valuable asset, whenever laypeople (i.e.…”