[1] This section does not apply to the use of the term «herein» in official documents such as proclamations and orders of the Board. This article examines the use of the word «hereafter» in federal statutes.[1] The use of the word «herein» in federal legislation is unnecessary and should be avoided. The word «hereby» has gradually fallen out of favor in federal legal texts (like the words «there»). It is currently only used in conjunction with performative discourse acts. An act of speech occurs whenever language is used to accomplish something – make a statement, ask a question, report, predict, etc. A performative speech act is a special type of speech act in which the action indicated by the main verb is performed at the time of utterance. Attend the most popular CLE seminar ever. More than 215,000 people – including lawyers, judges, trainee lawyers and paralegals – have benefited since the early 1990s. You`ll learn the keys to professional writing and learn no-frills techniques to make your letters, memos, and briefings more powerful.
All of the above examples contain the word «below». Linguists use this term as a test in case of doubt to determine whether an act of speech is performative – if you can insert the word «below» into the utterance, that`s a good indication that the utterance is performative. In legal texts, the term «hereof» seems to have traditionally been added as an explicit means of indicating that an act of speech must be performative. However, if it is clear from the context that a statement is performative (e.g., if the Minister utters the words at a marriage ceremony), the word «this» is not required. This is the case in our legislative examples—it is clear from the context in which they are formulated (Parliament expresses itself through legislation or delegated legislation) that they are performative. It is not necessary to add «hereby». In fact, the recent trend in many jurisdictions is to drop the word «hereby.» British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, and Newfoundland and Labrador have done so. In addition, it does not appear in recent Australian and New Zealand legislation. There are also examples in our own legislation of performative acts of discourse that do not rely on the word «below» to make them explicitly performative. For example, a provision is replaced by the simple phrase «paragraph (a) is replaced by x».
Most acts of performative discourse are easily recognizable. They are in the first person, in the present tense, an active voice with an explicit performative verb, for example «I call this ship Queen Mary», «Welcome», «I advise you to leave» and «We promise to return». It`s pretty obvious that these are not just descriptive statements, but accomplish something by simply saying them – name, welcome, advise and promise. Under the right circumstances, performative speech acts can also be performed in the second or third person. In these cases, the listener or reader must decide whether the statement is descriptive or performative. For example, are the statements «the court sits» or «you are now husband and wife» descriptive or performative? The decisive factor for a listener or reader who makes this decision is the social context in which the act of speech is delivered. The right conditions must be given for an act of speech to be effective as a performative expression: words must be spoken in the right socially authorized and authoritative context. If an ordinary person made any of these statements, they would obviously only be descriptive; However, if a court official makes them at the beginning of a court case or a minister at a wedding ceremony, they would be performative. In addition to context, the speaker`s intention must also be not only to describe a fact, but to realize it. He teaches dozens of techniques that make a big difference.
Most importantly, it shows you what doesn`t work – and why – and how to cultivate dexterity. You`ll also learn what doesn`t work and why – the expertise gained through Professor Garner`s unique experience training lawyers at leading law firms across the country, state and federal courts, government agencies, and Fortune 500 companies. Did you want Professor Garner to teach your group? Contact us at info@lawprose.org for more information on internal seminars. Professor Garner gives you the keys to making the most of your writing skills – in letters, memos, briefings, and more. The seminar deals with five essential skills for persuasive writing: performative speech acts, which can be found in legal texts, are performed, for example, in the third person, present and passive.