Language and disadvantage before the law

This chapter draws on sociolinguistic research to examine some social groups whose experience of disadvantage in the legal process is at least partly due to differences in language use: children, intellectually disabled people, Deaf people, and second dialect speakers and other minority group members. The legal contexts include police interviews, courtroom hearings, lawyer-client interviews and alternative legal processes. The chapter argues that it is impossible to address language and disadvantage in the law – whether through research or law reform – without an understanding of the politics of disadvantage, and the rights of people whose difference from the dominant society plays a significant role in their participation in the legal process.